Smith reveals what he told Villa players before Tuesday's game vs Crewe - originally posted on Sportslens.com
Aston Villa progressed through to the next round of the Carabao Cup after beating Crewe 6-1 on Tuesday night at Gresty Road.
Villa started their 2019-20 campaign with back to back defeats against Aston Villa and Bournemouth.
However, they have made a strong comeback with now back to back wins. Last week, Villa defeated Everton 2-0 in the Premier League, and here they produced a strong result which will surely boost their confidence.
Dean Smith, the Villa boss, has said that he made sure that his players take the competition seriously, and enter the game with a positive frame of mind.
When asked to comment on the performance, he said to the Birmingham Mail: “I told the players before the game, we’re in the top four teams in the history of the cup [to win it]. We wanted to make sure our attitude was right, we knew they was a bright team. We showed that today.”
Having signed a lot of players in the summer, Smith can afford to rotate his squad nicely. He made 10 changes from the team that won against Everton on Friday and handed debuts to Ezri Konsa, Matt Targett and Marvelous Nakamba.
Konsa scored four minutes into his debut for Villa. Conor Hourihane scored a quickfire double to make it 3-0 at half-time at Gresty Road.
Keinan Davis and Frederic Guilbert further extended Villa’s lead. Ryan Wintle pulled a goal back for Crewe before Jack Grealish finished it off to earn a convincing win for Dean Smith’s side.
Villa enjoyed 67% of possession and attempted 17 shots during the game of which they managed to keep seven on target, according to BBC Sport.
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