Aston Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz opened his goalscoring account for the club last weekend, but they were still beaten.
Luiz joined Villa from Manchester City this summer, and he made his debut last weekend in a 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth.
The Brazilian had a mixed display, which showed both his strengths and weaknesses.
Luiz initially was at fault for the second goal which Villa conceded, as he tried to step over the ball just outside his own area, only for Harry Wilson to latch on to it and blast home from range.
The error, perhaps, showed Luiz’s lack of Premier League experience.
But the youngster quickly made amends for his mistake, as he scored a goal of the season contender in the second half.
And Smith insists that Luiz is a player of huge potential, who he is excited to see develop at Villa.
“He’s a really talented player but he’s also a very young player as well. We have to take our time nurturing him and helping him integrate into the squad and the team,” Smith said.
“This summer it wasn’t just about signing really good players, but really good characters. We did a lot of work on the character references to make sure they were the type of players we wanted here.
“Dougy is one we’re very excited about. His English is getting there, certainly with JT and Richard O’Kelly’s refereeing decisions!”
Luiz looks likely to start for Villa this evening, in their match against Everton.
The Villans are still looking for their first points of the season, after losing their opening two matches back in the top flight.
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