Dean Smith has admitted to BBC Sport that he was shocked Aston Villa forward Bertrand Traore didn’t score against Sheffield United last night.
Traore was one of the few Villa players to come out of last night’s game with any credit, as they sunk to a 1-0 defeat against the Premier League’s basement side.
The winger almost scored one of the goals of the season in the first half, as he dribbled past three Sheffield United defenders, but he dragged his shot wide.
And Villa boss Smith was surprised that Traore wasn’t able to find the finish.
“I was surprised he didn’t score that because he has great feet, he normally passes those into the bottom corner,” Smith said.
“John McGinn has had one just before that, Bert has had another one in the six yard box second half and you’ve got to take those chances.”
At that stage Villa had just gone 1-0 down, so restoring parity would have been key.
However, the longer the game went on the more frustrated Villa became and Traore’s shot was about as close as they came to equalising all match.
Despite the Blades being reduced to 10, Villa struggled to break down a resilient backline, and sunk to a very disappointing defeat.
Villa failed to capitalise on a chance to break into the upper echelons of the table, and now sit in ninth place.
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