Dean Smith hit with touchline ban and fine after accepting FA charge

Aston Villa boss Dean Smith has accepted a Football Association charge and will serve a touchline ban against Newcastle.

The 49-year-old was sent off during Wednesday’s controversial 2-0 defeat to Manchester City.

He was charged for using abusive and/or insulting language towards referee Jon Moss following City’s opening goal.

The FA confirmed the Villa manager’s punishment on Friday night, adding that he has also been fined £8,000.

Smith asked the officials if they had got juggling balls for Christmas after midfielder Rodri ran back from an offside position to tackle Tyrone Mings and pass for Bernardo Silva to score.

“I will reluctantly accept it. I will accept the charge of insulting the officials. I certainly didn’t abuse them and that will be the end of the matter,” said Smith, who will be in the stands for Saturday’s Premier League visit of the Magpies.

“I don’t really regret it. That’s just my way of dealing with the situation, a touch of sarcasm.”


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Smith feels Villa ‘in a good place’

Defeat extended Villa’s winless run to three in the league, dropping them to 11th in a congested table. But they have up to three games in hand on their top-half rivals, leaving Smith confident.

“We feel like we’re in a good place. In our last three games we’ve played Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City and we’ve only got one point from them,” he said.

“We feel that we deserved more. We felt it was a poor penalty decision for Paul Pogba in the Manchester United game and obviously decisions went against us in the Manchester City game.

“Manchester City was the game I felt we deserved to get beaten as they were the better team. We’ve got great belief in the way we’re playing and the team we’ve got.”

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