Report shares Dean Smith’s two January priorities at Aston Villa

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Dean Smith reportedly has his eye on strengthening two positions within his Aston Villa squad, while he also wishes to move a number of players on.

According to a report from The Telegraph, Dean Smith has been promised January funds by the Aston Villa board and will hope to strengthen the club’s options at centre-back and left-back.

Smith is now preparing to take charge of his boyhood club for the first time after being appointed by the Villans as Steve Bruce’s successor this week. But despite the quality within their squad, there is clearly some issues for the new manager to address.

Villa find themselves 15th in the Championship and only one team has conceded more goals than they have in the league this year. Unsurprisingly, the defence appears to be where the majority of Smith’s focus will go in the upcoming window.

According to the Telegraph, the Villa board have provided assurances that money will be made available to the new boss despite the Financial Fair Play restrictions, and a new centre-back and left-back are his priorities.

The Telegraph adds that the club will look to move on some of their fringe players, perhaps in an attempt to bolster the funds available to Smith as he looks to turn their fortunes around.

While the prospect of fringe players leaving may leave some Villa fans feeling confident as to whose days at the club are numbered, Smith will surely want to make sure that every player is working from a clean slate in the hope of uncovering some gems.

There is a lot of quality within the Villa squad and Smith may be keen to see whether he can get more out of some of the players that struggled for chances under Bruce in the hope that he can make his January wishlist just that little bit shorter.