Analysis: Aston Villa fail to lift spirits with latest limp FA Cup exit

A busy festive period had seen Dean Smith’s men squander more than one chance to close the gap on their Championship promotion rivals.

And though Saturday’s visit of Swansea offered no points, a victory would have provided some momentum and restored a little of the positivity further eroded by the likely loss of top scorer Tammy Abraham.

To that end, Villa failed miserably, collapsing to their heaviest home defeat since relegation and leaving head coach Smith facing by far the biggest week of his tenure to date.

The boss, to his credit, did not mince his words when assessing what was comfortably the poorest performance under his watch, after an afternoon which for the first time saw supporters voice frustration at some of his decisions.

No question the next few days are crucial, ahead of a game at Wigan which Villa must surely win, if only to dispel the impression they are a team heading rapidly in the wrong direction.

There was, on the surface, a rather simple explanation for Saturday’s result.

For while Smith, somewhat understandably, made six changes to the team which drew 2-2 with QPR on New Year’s Day, opposite number Graham Potter made only one to a Swans line-up which had triumphed 4-1 at Reading last time out.

It should really have come as no surprise, therefore, that the visitors were the more cohesive and effective unit throughout. Happily for Potter, meanwhile, the one man he did bring into the team, striker Courtney Baker-Richards, opened the scoring inside two minutes.

Yet even allowing for the changes, or a makeshift defence which featured Alan Hutton at centre-back, there should be no excusing the slackness of Villa’s display, as several players blew their chance to impress.

Most concerning were the performances of Scott Hogan and Jonathan Kodjia, the two men who will be tasked with filling the void left by Abraham.

Hogan twice came close to netting early on in his first start of the season but then quickly faded from view, while Kodjia struggled to make an impact after being introduced off the bench.

Albert Adomah and James Bree were among numerous others who came up short while, despite some nice touches, young Callum O’Hare appeared for the most part a little too lightweight, particularly when up against the imposing figure of Leroy Fer. O’Hare’s withdrawal, 10 minutes into the second half, came as no great surprise and was hardly worthy of the reaction it received from some members of the crowd.

In truth, the day’s biggest positives arrived off the bench, with Henri Lansbury and Keinan Davis both looking bright. By then, though, most of the damage had already been done, Nathan Dyer doubling Swansea’s lead early in the second period, before Jay Fulton’s goal 12 minutes from time killed off any murmurings of a fightback and condemned Villa to a third straight third-round exit.

It is a pitiful record but admittedly one in a competition which presently ranks a distant second in the club’s list of priorities.

The biggest battle resumes at Wigan on Saturday, when the team will no doubt look very different. Smith must hope the performance does too.