Aston Villa urged to match work rate of top stars

Villa head to Wigan on Saturday aiming for a victory to kickstart their campaign after a run of just one win in six games.

Boss Smith, unhappy with his team’s effort in last week’s FA Cup exit to Swansea, has shown his players clips of the recent top-flight showdown between Manchester City and Liverpool to demonstrate the level of hard work he demands.

He said: “The one thing which stood out to the players and the coaching staff is how hard both of those teams work.

“The likes of Mane, Salah and Aguero.

“It’s what all the top players do because they want to win games. We are looking to emulate that here.

“We have got that message across to the players and, from what we have seen so far in training, they want to take that forward.”

Villa, who have played most of their promotion rivals over the past two months, now face three of the Championship’s current bottom five in the next three games.

“Momentum is a big thing,” added Smith. “We are playing a number of teams below us in the league now. It will give us an opportunity to start climbing.”

In a development off the field, former owner Tony Xia has formally been removed as a person of significant control at Villa, according to documents filed this week at Companies House.

Xia, who remains a director and is still officially vice-chairman, has effectively been powerless since selling a majority stake to Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens last summer.

Yet it is understood his shareholding has now decreased below 25 per cent, meaning he no longer has formal voting rights.