SM
St Patrick's vs. Shamrock: 13 hrs 26 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews

Aston Villa

Dean Smith looks to Aston Villa new boys to take pressure off Jack Grealish

:Headline: Dean Smith looks to Aston Villa new boys to take pressure off Jack Grealish: ID:416969: from db_amp
Ross Barkley could make his debut against Liverpool on Sunday.

Boss Dean Smith believes Ross Barkley and Aston Villa's new boys will take the heat off Jack Grealish.

Chelsea midfielder Barkley joined on a season-long loan this week and could make his debut against Liverpool on Sunday.

He joins record signing Ollie Watkins, Bertrand Traore and Emiliano Martinez as big money new signings at Villa Park.

Skipper Grealish inspired Villa to their final day survival act last season but Smith expects others to step up this time around.

"There's an awful lot of potential there. I've spoken about taking a bit of pressure off Jack," he said.

Jack Grealish was in fine form for Aston Villa last season (Mike Hewitt/PA)

"The signings that we've made, Roscoe, Ollie, Martinez, a lot of that will take the pressure off Jack this season.

"That's for sure. That's got to be good for the team – a lot of people expected Jack to get a lot of the ball.

"Teams would double up on him. Obviously when you add more quality to the squad, it allows other people in the squad more time on the ball now."

Grealish played his part in convincing Barkley to move to Villa from Stamford Bridge and Smith feels the club's pulling power is growing after they beat the drop by a point last season.

"Jack knows Ross off the field, so he would only have said positive things about Villa to him," said the manager.

“Jack knows Ross off the field, so he would only have said positive things about Villa to him”
- Dean Smith

"But it still takes something for a player at one of the top four clubs in this country to turn their head.

"Jack managed to do that, and me and JT (John Terry) were working on Ross as well.

"The signings we have made already, and Jack and Tyrone (Mings) have committed their future as well, I think that's one of the reasons we got Ross.

"Ross has looked at it and thought 'this is a club I can go and help drive forward and enhance my career this season by getting as many minutes as I can'. Certainly Ross having a good time with us is going to help us and him."

amp_article__416969 : Database Data restored...  : 
last updated article - 2020-10-02 21:51:42:
html db last update - 2020-10-02 21:51:42 :

ex - 7200 : read : read cache amp html

Click here for more stories about Dean Smith

Click here for more stories about Aston Villa

Share this article now:
Recommended Next on SM
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
CManchester CityMan City38287396346291
2Arsenal38285591296289
3Liverpool382410486414582
4Aston Villa382081076611568
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs382061274611366
6Chelsea381891177631463
7Newcastle UnitedNewcastle381861485622360
8Manchester UnitedMan Utd38186145758-160
9West Ham UnitedWest Ham381410146074-1452
10Crystal Palace381310155758-149
11Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton381212145562-748
12Bournemouth38139165467-1348
13Fulham38138175561-647
14Wolverhampton WanderersWolves38137185065-1546
15Everton38139164051-1140
16Brentford38109195665-939
17Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest3899204967-1832
RLuton TownLuton3868245285-3326
RBurnley3859244178-3724
RSheffield UnitedSheff Utd38372835104-6916
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .