Dean Smith confident Aston Villa goals will flow again

After scoring 33 times in their first 18 Premier League matches, Villa have netted just five goals in their last seven and on Wednesday were unable to find a way past 10-man Sheffield United, as they slipped to a miserable 1-0 defeat Bramall Lane.

But Smith is taking confidence in his team’s ability to create chances and has no fears over their firepower.

He said: “Is it a concern? Not really. If we had taken our big chances on Wednesday then we are not even having this conversation.

“As long as we create big chances in games, that is what I am interested in. We did in the first half, though not so much in the second.

“When they went down to 10-men they had all their players in the box and we found it hard to create in that period. But I have no worries about us scoring goals, that is for sure.”

Defender Tyrone Mings, meanwhile, admitted defeat to the Blades was another missed opportunity for Villa, who now need to beat Wolves tomorrow to get their push for Europe back on track.

The match against Bramall Lane, against a home side sitting rock bottom of the Premier League, appeared the ideal chance for Villa to follow up last weekend’s win at Leeds and record back-to-back Premier League victories for the first time since December.

Mings said: “I think it shows where we are as a team. We always seem to have an opportunity to put a run together and then we don’t take advantage of it.

“Looking at the bigger picture, we’ve come such a long way from the team that we were last year. That doesn’t help, sitting here losing 1-0 – it’s not a silver lining that we’re so much better than last year.

“Wednesday was a game we should have been more competitive in. We’re evolving and progressing as a team and as a club. Europe wasn’t one of our ambitions at the start of the season, but where we are at the moment I don’t think lies.

“We’ve had opportunities to push on. We’re not there yet but we’re working hard to be there.”