Dean Smith comments on his decision to leave Douglas Luiz out for Aston Villa

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Aston Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz was not in Dean Smith’s squad at the weekend.

Dean Smith has told the Birmingham Mail that he left Aston Villa’s Douglas Luiz out of his squad against Arsenal as he felt he wasn’t needed on the bench.

Villa lost 3-2 at the Emirates Stadium yesterday, and Luiz’s omission came as a shock.

Although the £15 million (BBC Sport) summer signing is still adapting to his role at Villa, it was a surprise that he wasn’t among the substitutes in London.

But Smith wanted Villa to have some attacking options on the bench that he could turn to.

“Trezeguet came back and I’ve got Conor (Hourihane), Henri (Lansbury) and Douglas,” Smith said.

“I was pleased with Marvelous’ (Nakamba) performance against West Ham United and I just felt I didn’t need three midfielders on the bench, I needed Keinan Davis and Jota on there as well.”

It shows the depth that Villa now have in their squad that they were able to leave a player of Luiz’s value and quality out of their squad.

However, the Brazilian may come back into Smith’s thinking sooner rather than later.

Villa twice had the lead against Arsenal, who had just 10 men on the pitch, but they were unable to hold on.

Luiz’s defensive instincts may actually have been a decent option for Smith, after the way the game panned out.

Villa are next in action on Wednesday evening when they take on Brighton & Hove Albion in the League Cup, and Luiz may well be recalled for that game.