Dean Smith’s Aston Villa side were dealt another blow in their race for promotion following their 3-0 defeat at Wigan.
Garry Thompson has claimed that Dean Smith’s teams ‘take a while to bed down’ as Aston Villa suffered a 3-0 defeat at Wigan on Saturday.
Villa were emphatically beaten at the DW Stadium in one of the poorest and lacklustre displays the team has produced since being relegated to the Championship.
After initially starting his Villa reign with a win against Swansea, Smith is now facing a number of big tests following poor results and performances in recent weeks.
Holte End favourite, Thompson made it clear that Villa have to turn their performances around as he explained what he has been told about Smith’s teams.
“I have always been told with Dean Smith’s teams that it takes a while for it to bed down to get them playing the way they do,” Thompson told BBC Radio WM.
“There is always going to be a lull, you say you come through this. This is now going to be the making of him at Aston Villa.”
Villa have won one of their last eight matches in all competitions and have suffered back-to-back 3-0 defeats in recent weeks.
One of the biggest issues Smith is trying to deal with is the club’s problematic defence – Villa have conceded 43 goals this season.
Their inability to keep a clean sheet is costing the club valuable points, and at this moment in time, a place in the top six.
Smith’s side are five points off the play-off places as they take on Hull City and then former manager Paul Lambert in back-to-back home matches in the next fortnight.
Further dropped points heading into February may well end Villa’s hopes of even making a fight to finish in the promotion places.
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