Aston Villa face the daunting prospect of taking on Manchester City at the weekend.
Villa are due to travel to City on Saturday afternoon, as they get the Premier League action underway for the weekend.
The claret and blues are set to face a tough test at the Etihad Stadium.
But Smith does not feel like the game is a foregone conclusion, and he claims he will be stressing to his Villa side that they can get a result just before they go out on to the pitch on Saturday.
“My final message when we go over the white line will be ‘listen they’re not superhuman, they are human just like yourselves, if you run harder than them and you’re mentally stronger than them, you’ve got a good chance,” he said.
“It’s 11 v 11. The mental side of going into games like this is so important – ‘don’t fear them, respect them by all means because they are top players’.
“But we have players who want to be top players and have the potential to be – so there’s your stage, go and show it.”
If Villa can pick up a result at the weekend it would be a brilliant achievement for Smith’s side.
City have dropped points at home this season, but it would be a huge shock if a newly promoted side were able to beat them at the Etihad Stadium.
Villa do travel to Manchester in good form though, as they have won their last two matches on the spin.
Smith’s men are currently in 12th place in the Premier League table, three points above the drop zone.
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