Aston Villa progressed to the next round of the Carabao Cup last night, with Jack Grealish on the scoresheet.
Villa picked up a 6-1 victory over Crewe, with Grealish playing the last 20 minutes.
The move to substitute Grealish on to the pitch seemed slightly cruel at the time, as Villa were already 3-0 up and cruising at the time.
But Smith said that he always wanted to bring in Villa’s star man, as he felt that the playmaker could do with the minutes.
Grealish did score during the contest, as he rounded off Villa’s triumph in the last minute.
But the claret and blues dominance may have led to Grealish floating around in the final third.
“I told Jack I was bringing and he made me make him come on the pitch,” Smith said.
“I always had a plan to bring Jack on and brought him on for Jota in the wide right area, but he probably played everywhere but there.”
Grealish is always offered creative licence, and Smith is likely to have encouraged the 23-year-old to drift around where he felt fit when he was brought on.
Grealish is generally required to perform a much more disciplined role in the Premier League, when Villa have less possession than they did last night.
Villa will find out who they will face in the third round of the Carabao Cup later this evening, when the draw is made.
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