Dean Smith says FA Cup 'wasn’t the top of our priority' after Aston Villa's loss to Fulham
Dean Smith claimed Villa were beaten by “two wonder goals” after they exited the FA Cup at Fulham.
Anthony Knockaert and Harry Arter both netted from long range to earn the home side a 2-1 third round victory.
Knockaert curled home from 25 yards out to open the scoring and though Anwar El Ghazi levelled for Villa, Arter thumped home from 30 yards out just moments after coming off the bench.
And Smith said: “The game has been won by two wonder goals.
“I didn’t think it was a great spectacle if I’m being honest. Cold, windy day down here and not a great spectacle by either team.
“I thought it was an average performance, I thought we appeared to be two pretty even teams on the day.”
Smith made nine changes to the team which had won 2-1 at Burnley in Villa’s previous Premier League outing, with Jack Grealish among several senior players not involved in the squad.
It is the fourth consecutive season in which Villa have failed to progress past the third round.
But Smith defended his decision to shake things up, pointing to his team’s hectic fixture schedule and the fact they lost John McGinn, Wesley and Tom Heaton to long-term injury over the Christmas period.
They next travel to Leicester for a Carabao Cup semi-final first leg on Wednesday and when asked, Smith admitted a replay would have been the last thing he wanted.
“With the amount of games we’ve had and the amount of games we’ve got in January, certainly,” he said.
“Listen, I don’t like losing in any competition but I think everyone could see from the selection and squad we brought here it wasn’t the top of our priority.
“That’s simply because we’ve had three major injuries to three key players in the team. The amount of games we’ve played since quarter-final against Liverpool on December 17 is incredible.
“I’ve had to rest some of those players to make sure they’re ready. We have two semi-finals in the Carabao Cup and four or five key Premier League games in January.
“It’s a really important month for us so we have to make sure those players who haven’t been getting minutes got the minutes today.”
