Aston Villa boss Dean Smith: I was a bit naive in first season

Smith is busy preparing for a new season just a month after engineering a remarkable escape from relegation.

Villa looked set to make an immediate return to the Championship before claiming eight points from their final four matches.

The turnaround owed plenty to their improved defensive performances after the season’s three-month shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Smith has acknowledged their approach in the early months of the campaign was a little too aggressive.

He said: “I probably went into the season a little bit naive in terms of trying to win every game.

“That is natural and I won’t ever lose that but sometimes you have to be a bit more pragmatic. You can’t expect a lot of the ball at times against Liverpool and Manchester City and we have to play a little bit differently at times.”

Villa will spend the rest of the week at a training camp in south Wales before returning to the Midlands.

Plans for an overseas pre-season trip were quickly shelved when the pandemic began, but Smith believes that despite remaining in the UK the time away will be of huge benefit.

“You have to keep the routines because the players are used to them,” he said.

“Pre-season is a time the players know they are going to work hard and we can come to a resort and have eight or nine days just good training sessions and clear planning for the season.

“It helps the culture and the team spirit. You are at Bodymoor Heath a lot during the season. It is a fantastic training ground and is going to get better, our owners have invested a lot into a new performance centre which is going to be magnificent.

“It is a great place to go every day but it is good to go to a fresh environment and do a few different things.

“You see the players mixing with different people during breakfast or lunchtime. That is the idea of the camp and getting people together again.”