Spurs preview: Dean Smith on United win, team belief & importance of consistency

Aston Villa’s final test before the international break comes this Sunday as they head to north London to take on a misfiring Tottenham Hotspur.

Villa go into the game in fine spirits after the memorable 1-0 victory at Old Trafford last weekend and will be hoping they can keep that momentum going against a Spurs side who have lost their last three in the Premier League.

Speaking ahead of the match, Dean Smith says he can tell the feel-good-factor has stayed with the fans this week but it’s been business as usual for the players.

On if there has been an extra buzz around Bodymoor Heath, he said: “Not so much around the training ground.”

“I think around the Aston Villa fan base there has been because we’ve obviously had a lot of suffering against United so it was nice to go there and get the victory but for us it was enjoy it and concentrate on Tottenham.

“It’s a long season, we had an indifferent start results wise and to go and perform the way we did at Chelsea but be on the wrong side of a scoreline but then get a good scoreline against Everton and Manchester United just builds confidence and belief around this group.”

In a way it was refreshing to hear that the players haven’t let one result go to their head. Smith is very much keeping everyone grounded and knows nothing has been achieved after one result, no matter how good said result felt.

And although it’s still early on in the season, the manager explained that there is a genuine belief that this team can beat anyone.

Against United, Villa were throwing attackers on with 10/15 minutes to go. Many would have been settling for a point at that stage and accepting it just wasn’t their day in front of goal but not Smith’s side.

“Yeah there is (belief they can beat anyone), he said.

“Our in game management is having a feel of that game and I felt that we had United on the back foot at that period so I felt there was an opportunity to go on and win the game.

“I thought at that moment during the game and I spoke to the coaches as well and they felt it was the right decision to make.

“There might be another game where we feel we’re under the cosh a little bit more and we probably need more defensive substitutes but this time it paid dividends and we went and got the win in the end.”

It’s important that Villa now go and follow the impressive victory up in Manchester with a result at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium. In a way, coming away with points from this one could be seen as more important than the last.

The team have to show that they are capable of getting results regularly and going on runs throughout a campaign if they are to achieve the goals they have set out for themselves and Smith echoed this.

“I have alluded to the fact last Saturday was a good win and big for our fanbase in terms of the suffering they had experienced up there,” he added.

“But in terms of the dressing room, they know there is no room for complacency and we have to go to Spurs and put in as good a performance in order to get a result again.

“We believe we are capable of that but consistency needs to be there and we need to go and show that on Sunday.”