Aston Villa boss Dean Smith out to stop former charge Ryan Woods being Stoke's ace in the pack

Cannock-born Woods played for nearly three seasons under Smith at Brentford and this week admitted he will always be grateful to the now Villa boss for helping improve his game.

But he also hopes to assist his current manager Gary Rowett by providing the inside track on how Smith sets up his teams.

That led Smith to quip: “I read somewhere that Ryan would be giving out all our plans to Gary. So I will have some plans for him.”

Woods, who joined Stoke from the Bees in August for a deal worth around £7million, has a track record of performing well against Villa, the club who released him as a teenager.

He was also let go by Walsall’s academy before finding his path to the professional game at Shrewsbury.

Smith said: “Ryan is a player I worked with over the last three years and he is a great kid. He has improved as a footballer.

“I know whenever I brought Brentford to Villa, supporters were waxing lyrical over him. He makes a game tick, he can switch play and keep the ball moving.

“I think he is finding his feet at Stoke at the moment but ge is a terrific prospect, a good kid, from family from Norton Caines. I wished him well when he left Brentford and I understood his reasons.”

Jack Grealish’s absence due to a shin injury means Glenn Whelan is likely to start against the club for whom he made nearly 350 appearances during the course of almost a decade.

There was a time, not so long ago, when losing Grealish for even one game would have felt like a huge blow for Villa.

Smith, however, was keen to stress his is currently a team with several other weapons.

“Jack is a big part but there are a lot of big parts in that team at the moment. There are a lot of good players, playing well,” he said.

“If one player misses the game, it is an opportunity for another, that is the way I see it.

“It has always been a squad game. When I first came in Jack had one assist and no goals. Now he has two goals and three or four assists. That is what his game needs to be built around and that is what we are working on.

“But now there is an opportunity for someone else to go and do that. We have the players to do it as well.”