Express & Star

West Brom v Aston Villa: Dean Smith from era when rivalry flourished

Having grown up in Great Barr, a suburb which like many on Birmingham’s north-western edge contains its fair portion of Albion supporters, Dean Smith understands perfectly the rhythms of one of football’s oldest rivalries.

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Villa boss Dean Smith knows what this derby clash is all about.

As a youngster, Smith received much of his sporting education at a time when meetings between Villa and the Baggies was accompanied by serious national interest, with both clubs battling it out near the top of the First Division. The era of Atkinson and Saunders, Robertson and Mortimer, Robson, Shaw and Regis.

Clearly, tonight’s clash at The Hawthorns takes place at a time when neither club is at the level to which they aspire.

Yet it is also perhaps true that, not since a Peter Withe goal earned Villa a 1-0 home win over the Baggies en route to claiming the title in April 1981, have the pair met as genuine contenders in the upper echelons of a division.

True, there have been some high-profile FA Cup showdowns and several Premier League relegation six-pointers.

But tonight they face off as promotion rivals, Albion sitting third in the Championship and Villa eighth, four points behind.

“They’re one of the fancied teams and it makes for a really good game,” said Smith.

“I was brought up, supporting Villa in the 80s, where Albion v Villa was a big game.

“It’s not been so big over the past few years because of the re-emergence of Villa v Blues, but there have been some really good games – certainly when Ron Atkinson was in charge of West Brom and they were doing really well.”

This is a derby with a multitude of sub-plots, not least involving the two Brummies in opposing dugouts, who if things had worked out differently in the summer might well have ended up sharing one.

But what this essentially boils down to, for the visitors, is their latest chance to deal a blow to a promotion rival and climb, for a few hours at least, into the top six.

Statement wins in their last two away games at Derby and Middlesbrough has sent confidence soaring and means that, while respectful of the division’s top scorers, Villa head to The Hawthorns free of fear.

“Every game, whether it’s home or away, is an opportunity to go and win,” said Smith.

“That’s what it is for us – a chance to close the gap on the top six.

“There’s always been a lot of belief. There’s confidence running through the squad at the moment.

“They believe they can go anywhere and win.

“Tactically, I think we’re improving and we’ve dominated a lot of games.”

Albion are the only team to have scored more goals than Villa, who have just three fewer than their neighbours after a haul of 17 in the last five games.

Yet while last weekend’s win on the Riverside delivered a welcome clean sheet, the fourth in Smith’s eight-game tenure, Villa’s defence remains a weakness.

“I feel we’ve been OK,” said Smith. “We’ve certainly been free-scoring and creating a lot of chances.

“We’re a threat to anybody going forward but with West Brom, they’ve got a lot of Premier League quality in their squad - Rodriguez and Phillips to name a few.

“That goes with the experience of Dawson, Morrison and Brunt. There’s a lot of players there with good experience. They’re top players.

“We’ve got full respect of Albion, but we certainly haven’t got any fear with the confidence that is running through our squad at the moment.”

Albert Adomah is set to miss his third straight game with an ankle injury. Smith’s biggest selection headaches are on the flanks, where Ahmed Elmohamady and Anwar El Ghazi could both keep their places after strong showings at Boro.