Dean Smith reacts to Villa Park reception and makes £125m Aston Villa point

Former Aston Villa boss Dean Smith was ‘appreciative’ of the reception he got from the Villa Park faithful in his first return to the stadium since his sacking ;ast November.

Smith bought his Norwich City team to the midlands as they looked to preserve their place in the Premier League. But goals from Ollie Watkins and Danny Ings gave Villa a 2-0 win and condemned the Canaries to Championship football next season.

While it was a day that Smith would probably like to forget, the manager did receive a warm welcome from his old Villa fans. Smith led the club he supported as a boy back to the Premier League in 2019 before helping them maintain their place in the top flight the following season.

“I’m appreciative, and appreciative that they know what we did here when we were here,” Smith told BBC Sport after the game.

“It didn’t matter where we went down, Villa Park, Anfield, Old Trafford, wherever we went down, it looked inevitable it was going to happen. I’m just glad the lads fought until the end today.”

On the game, Smith believes his team probably deserved to take something, telling Sky Sports : "I'm disappointed because it wasn't a performance we should have got relegated on. I thought it was a good performance. We quietened the crowd.

"They probably scored against the run of play - a ball over the top and a slip: Brandon [Williams] slips and Ollie [Watkins] scores. Unfortunately, that's cost us in an awful lot of games this season - little individual mistakes.

"I felt we should have had a penalty just after that and didn't get one, but I don't suppose I'll get a phone call from [referees' chief] Mike Riley.

"The Premier League is tough. I was at Aston Villa a couple of years ago and we got promoted and we spent