Wolves chief Nuno is a fan of Aston Villa boss Dean Smith

Nuno has appreciated the work of his opposite number since his Wolves side faced Smith’s Brentford in their 2017-18 Championship promotion term.

Smith moved to Villa Park in October 2018 and has followed in Nuno’s footsteps by steering Villa to the top tier in his first season.

And Nuno was full of praise ahead of tomorrow’s derby meeting.

He said: “(He has done a) fantastic job, amazing.

“I appreciate Dean Smith.

“We played against him in the Championship and he is a very good manager.”

That 2017-18 campaign was the last time Wolves and Villa met in the league.

Wolves beat Villa 2-0 at Molineux but lost the reverse fixture 4-1.

And given those experiences Nuno knows how much it means to the fans as Wolves look to avenge last month’s Carabao Cup exit.

He said: “We played in the Championship and we know what is a derby. We are the same, we have not changed a lot and we know what it means (to the fans).

“Villa are a good team and it will be a good game.”

Left-sided centre-half Max Kilman got the nod for that 2-1 cup defeat at Villa Park.

Now he is pushing for his first Premier League start after impressing in the 1-0 Europa League win over Slovan Bratislava on Thursday night.

He said: “I’m delighted for Max, he played very well. You can see the growth of him from the first time he played. He is progressing.

“Each time he goes onto the pitch he feels better, he feels stronger. You cannot forget were he came from (non-league side Maidenhead United). On Thursday he felt good so I’m delighted for him.”