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Dean Smith: I’ve rewatched every Aston Villa game

Dean Smith has rewatched every minute of Villa’s season in a bid to fix the problems which blighted his team prior to the Premier League shutdown.

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Villa returned to Bodymoor Heath for the first time in more than two months this week after top flight clubs agreed to resume non-contact, small group training.

Boss Smith revealed how he had used the time away to maximum effect by reviewing every aspect of the campaign to date.

In addition to holding one-on-one reviews with every player, Smith also watched every second of the action so far.

Villa sat 19th in the table when the season was halted by the coronavirus pandemic having lost five matches in a row and will look to fight their way out of trouble should the campaign restart next month.

Smith told the Leaders Podcast: “I am not one who usually goes back and watches every game but this time I have watched every single game and there were certainly lessons to take.

“I’ve managed to do a video review with every player, which during the season is something I would never get the chance to do.”

Villa’s squad was split into four during the lockdown with each holding regular chats with Smith and his assistants, with the latter holding coaching meetings every three days.

“We had one chat with the players which was only supposed to last 45 minutes but it ended up being an hour-and-a-half,” he said.

“It was really good to have such long chats with the players which again, you don’t normally get a chance to do.

“At the moment we are in the bottom three and we know what we have to get better at.”