Smith overjoyed at feat Villa have finally achieved; offers Grealish injury update

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Aston Villa manager Dean Smith knocked back the narrative that his substitutions were “inspired,” and admitted it was “nice” to finally register a comeback win.

Aston Villa left it late but finally found their attacking groove to snatch three points against Fulham. Aleksandar Mitrovic capitalised on a Tyrone Mings blunder to put the Cottagers ahead.


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But substitute Trezeguet would prove to be the catalyst on a late attacking blitz that produced three goals.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the match, Smith said: “I’m not sure [the substitutions] were inspired but they made the impact you want.

“The minimum you want is for them to run more and faster than the person who’s just come off. Trezeguet has been unfortunate this season, he’s missed a lot of chances, but he’s scored two today and won us the game.

FULL MATCH REPORT: Late Trezeguet blitz breaks Fulham hearts as Aston Villa finally click into gear

“I thought the performance was a little bit laboured from both teams. There’s a lot of teams battling for performances at the moment. It’s been a long hard season. We were hoping the break had done us good and we showed spells of energy in the first half.

“All results are important, they’re hard to come by in the Premier League and we’ve got a tough game next up against the champions.

“It was a hard fought win and it’s nice to come back from behind because we haven’t done that this season.”

Regarding Jack Grealish’s fresh injury concerns after the playmaker suffered a setback in training on Saturday, Smith added: “It only happened yesterday when he was sore, so we’ll probably go and get that scanned and see where he is.”

 

Villa hero Trezeguet “knew it would come”

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Man of the match Trezeguet also spoke to the press, saying: “It was an amazing game, I am happy for the three points and my goals.

“I haven’t scored for a long time but I believe I will score, I knew it would come.

“I hope I continue at the same level now and all of the team will go forward. This game was very important to give us confidence.

“Jack Grealish is very important, we miss him but we win without him today.”