Aston Villa boss Dean Smith: I'm confident we can turn this around
Dean Smith remains confident he can turn Villa’s fortunes around if given the time.
Friday night’s 1-0 defeat at Southampton was the club’s fifth on the spin and ramped up the pressure on the boss.
Smith’s position is likely to come under scrutiny during the international break and when asked afterward, he admitted he did not know whether he will be given the chance to mount a recovery.
He said: “I’ve no idea. I’ve always said I’ve never had control over that so I never worry about it. I just concentrate on the day to day.
“If given time I’m confident we turn it round with squad we got with players coming back. We had five academy graduates on the bench today and two of those came on the pitch.
“It shows we’ve got a very good academy system but unfortunately some of our better players back at Bodymoor Heath.”
Villa were missing Danny Ings, Douglas Luiz and Morgan Sanson at St Mary’s. Smith hopes the trio will be back for Brighton’s visit to Villa Park on November 20.
Adam Armstrong’s third minute strike was enough to earn the Saints victory. Villa, poor in the first half, improved considerably in the second but could not find a leveller.
Smith added: “I feel disappointed. We’ve got a strong squad here, at the moment we are struggling a bit with injuries.
“The five defeats seem to have come from nowhere. We’ve been in some tight games where poor decisions have gone against us.
“The lads left everything out there so you can see their support and wanting to get a result. Unfortunately our finishing let us down in the second half."
