Aston Villa attacker Anwar El-Ghazi has made a slow start since signing in January.
El-Ghazi managed to show Smith his goalscoring prowess in a practice match against Yeovil Town, where he netted four goals.
The Dutchman’s performance was enough to see Smith give him his chance in Villa’s first-team last night against Nottingham Forest.
And El-Ghazi repaid his manager’s faith, as he scored Villa’s fifth goal of the night.
The summer signing finished well from the edge of the box, to fire Villa into the lead.
And Smith said: “To be honest we played a behind closed doors friendly the other week against Yeovil and he scored four goals in that. He’s been working very hard and he’s taken his chance there really well.”
El-Ghazi has actually made a slow start at Villa, but his showing last night may have just pushed him back into contention.
El-Ghazi’s goal really should have proven the winner for Villa, but in a remarkable turn of events, Nottingham Forest struck back to claim a 5-5 draw in what was a remarkable match at Villa Park.
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