After a strong start to his reign at Aston Villa, Dean Smith has finally hit some adversity. His team have suffered consecutive 0-3 setbacks, and looked as poor as the scorelines on both occasions. Normally, people might start asking questions. But.
It’s off to the DW Stadium today as Aston Villa visit Wigan and look to start turning draws into wins. As everyone’s been talking about, it’s one of those weekends where Villa could make up some ground and finish the day seventh if everything turns out right. That, of course, includes getting all three points.
Aston Villa squandered a slender 1-0 lead to draw 1-1 with hosts Preston North End Saturday. Which was a shame, as there was ground to be gained on the day given other results. Bottom line, the side haven’t looked the same without Jack Grealish.
As per usual over the festive period, Villa won’t have had much time to lick their wounds after the 2-3 setback against visiting Leeds United at the weekend. And now Deano will deal with an issue Steve Bruce was very familiar with: injuries.
The Potters came visiting, the weather was terrible, and Aston Villa looked out of sorts as they clawed their way to a 2-2 draw with Stoke. It probably goes down as the side’s worst performance so far under Dean Smith, but there were still some positives.
