MX23RW : Sunday, January 19 04:41:46| >> :120:27415:27415:
[monks data]
West Ham logo
Premier League | Gameweek 38
Jul 26, 2020 at 4pm UK
London Stadium
Aston Villa logo

West Ham
1 - 1
Aston Villa

Yarmolenko (85')
Antonio (23'), Fredericks (51')
FT(HT: 0-0)
Grealish (84')
Samatta (41')

Dean Smith confident Aston Villa will avoid relegation

Dean Smith confident Aston Villa will avoid relegation
© Reuters
Villa are out of the Premier League's relegation zone on goal difference.

Boss Dean Smith believes Aston Villa will beat the drop on survival Sunday.

Villa go to West Ham out of the bottom three on goal difference after Tuesday's 1-0 win over Arsenal.

Drop rivals Watford go to the Gunners with Bournemouth travelling to Everton.

Two from three will go down but Smith is confident it will be Villa celebrating retaining their Premier League status by Sunday evening.

He said: "I've been confident in this group since we came back. There's nothing to waver my belief in them. I know after the Manchester United match (a 3-0 defeat) everyone thought we were relegated and were speaking about a Championship season.

"We have taken seven points – and it should have been nine – from the last three games and we're above the line.

"We understand what we have to do. We have to be mindful of what's happening at other games, as we saw in the Championship, and we'll have some 'What if' scenarios in the final 15 minutes."

Smith has remained calm throughout Villa's struggles this season after leading them to promotion via the play-offs last year.

He lost record buy Wesley and England goalkeeper Tom Heaton to season-ending knee injuries in the same game in January and Villa were seven points from safety going into their match against Crystal Palace earlier this month.

But the 49-year-old knows how important it was for him to keep his cool.

He said: "I think 33 years of being involved in football is enough to help you deal with pressures that are there. It certainly wouldn't be good for my health if I was getting too up and down.

"I've always maintained the biggest thing a player wants to see is consistency from a manager. If I'm up and down then I can't expect them to have good emotional control as well, so I think it's really important I've trained myself to do that."

ID:407925: cacheID:407925:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:3167:
Written by
P A
No Data Analysis info
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Aston Villa manager Dean Smith pictured on July 21, 2020
Read Next:
Dean Smith out to prove critics wrong with Aston Villa survival
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool21155150203050
2Arsenal22128243212244
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest21125430201041
4Newcastle UnitedNewcastle22115638261238
5Chelsea21107441261537
6Bournemouth22107536261037
7Aston Villa2210663334-136
8Manchester CityMan City2110563829935
9Fulham228953430433
10Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton2171043229331
11Brentford2284104039128
12Crystal Palace226972528-327
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd217592629-326
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham2275102743-1626
15Tottenham HotspurSpurs21731143321124
16Everton203891526-1117
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves2144133148-1716
18Ipswich TownIpswich2137112037-1716
19Leicester CityLeicester2235142348-2514
20Southampton2113171347-346


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!