Dean Smith shares what he told Aston Villa squad after Swansea defeat

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Aston Villa were knocked out of the FA Cup in emphatic fashion by their Championship rivals at the weekend.

In comments reported by Birmingham Live, Dean Smith has disclosed that he told the Aston Villa squad that they need to look at how John McGinn plays the game after the Villans were dumped out of the FA Cup by their Championship rivals.

Villa were beaten 3-0 by Swansea City in the third round at the weekend. Some lacklustre defending saw the Swans manage to carve Smith’s men open on a number of occasions, and the home side appeared to have few answers.

Smith was obviously disappointed with the performance from his side, and explained that his post-match message to the players focused on the lack of desire that they showed to win the game.

“We didn’t get out-thought tactically, I felt they were just crisper and more energetic than we were. That was the disappointing thing for me,” he said, as reported by Birmingham Live.

“I just said to the players at the end, the supporters here love John McGinn, and they love him because he plays like every game is his last game.”

The manner of the defeat will certainly do Villa no favours. But if they can respond in the right way, it could prove to be a very beneficial result in a competition that is obviously not the priority this season.

The Villans are 10th in the Championship and are five points off the top six. They have had their wake-up call without losing more ground in the promotion race – and they have avoided adding more fixtures to their schedule.

Villa have made a decent start to life under Smith, but need to improve if they hope to move themselves into the play-off places. So perhaps, come the end of the season, there is a chance that the defeat could have had more of a positive impact on the side as they can certainly be under no illusions regarding how much work they have got to do.