Orjan Nyland played well for Aston Villa against Swansea City in the Championship on Boxing Day.
Smith has been impressed with the performances of Nyland for Villa and has praised him for his display against Swansea City.
The 28-year-old Norway international goalkeeper saved a penalty from Wilfried Bony in the 90th minute during the Villans’ 1-0 win against Swansea away from home at the Liberty Stadium in the Championship on Boxing Day.
Smith has said that he is pleased with how Nyland has reacted to the signing of 28-year-old Croatia international goalkeeper Lovre Kalinic.
Smith told Villa’s official website about Nyland: “I’m really pleased for Ørjan, and also the goalkeepeing department. All of them do a lot of work on figuring out which way players are going to go.
“Orjan himself has reacted the way I wanted him to upon signing a goalkeeper. He’s got the shirt and wants to keep hold of it.”
Promotion push
Nyland joined Villa in the summer transfer window and is the first-choice goalkeeper at the Villans at the moment.
The 28-year-old has made mistakes from time to time, and there is no surprise that Villa decided to bring in Kalinic.
The Villans do need competition in their squad to maintain their push for the Championship playoffs this season.
Villa are ninth in the Championship table at the moment with 36 points from 24 matches, just three points behind sixth-placed Derby County.
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