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Dean Smith says Aston Villa no longer fear Premier League big guns ahead of Manchester United clash

Dean Smith claims Villa no longer fear facing the Premier League’s big guns as they aim to lay down another marker at Manchester United.

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Villa start 2021 with a New Year's Day trip to Old Trafford aiming to continue a hugely impressive campaign which has already seen them beat Liverpool, Leicester, Arsenal and take a point against Chelsea.

Monday’s 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge saw Villa head into the new year sitting fifth in the table, continuing their remarkable transformation from relegation strugglers to top half contenders in only their second season back in the top flight.

Smith, whose team only avoided the drop by a point last season, believes his players are stronger for that experience. The trip to United is the second of four potentially campaign-defining fixtures, with Villa also set to host Tottenham and Everton and travel to Manchester City later in the month.

Smith said: “We were more fearful of these fixtures last season because of the newness of actually getting into the Premier League.

“This season we know where we’re at. We’ve proven to ourselves by going to Arsenal and winning, going to Leicester and winning, beating Wolves and getting a point at Chelsea that we can go and compete with the best in this league.

“We’re excited about the opportunities and we’re ready for them.”

Old Trafford has rarely been a happy hunting ground for Villa, who have won there only once since 1983.

But Smith’s team did take a point last season with a 2-2 draw which ranked among their best pre-lockdown results. They now face the Red Devils having taken 16 points from a possible 21 on their travels, conceding only three goals.

One of those came against Chelsea where, for the first time this season, Villa came from behind to take a point courtesy of Anwar El Ghazi’s fifth goal in as many games.

Smith, who continues to play down his team’s European chances, believes the same effort shown at Stamford Bridge will be required if they are to take anything against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s second-placed team.

“You can’t go to Stamford Bridge unless you’ve got good team ethic and organisation,” said Smith. “We will need that again when we go to Man United.

“They’re really tough places to go. They’re teams who have been challenging the top four for the last 10 to 15 years.

“This is only our second season back and we haven’t got the depth of squads they have. We’ve got a young group who want to get better and, when you’ve got that, then it’s certainly encouraging.

“I don’t even look (at the table). I just concentrate on the next game. We all know how quickly football can change.

“I’ve been in this job long enough to know to not get ahead of yourself. You just have to keep going, one game at a time.”

Villa have Tyrone Mings back available after serving a one-match suspension and Smith must decide whether to hand the England international an instant recall or keep faith with Ezri Konsa and Kortney Hause in the heart of defence.

The expected return of Ross Barkley following more than a month out with a hamstring injury will further add to the head coach’s options.

“Going and getting results and, more importantly, performances, proves that we can compete with anybody,” said Smith.

“We’ve got a really good team unity and, more importantly, the ones that aren’t playing are pushing everybody else.

“You’ve seen Kortney come into the team when Ezri was ill. He’s played superbly in the last four games where we’ve only conceded one goal. The whole squad has been pushing each other to play.

“One player comes out and another comes in and does well. There’s no player who wants to perform under their level.”

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