John Terry responds to Dean Smith Aston Villa banner as Steven Gerrard delivers verdict

Dean Smith will receive an emotional welcome back to Villa Park when he returns with Norwich City on Saturday.

Smith will be back on the touchline in B6 for the first time since he was sacked by Villa in November and replaced by the current incumbent, Steven Gerrard. Villa were on a run of five straight defeats when Smith was dispensed with and at the time they teetered on the edge of a relegation battle after a 1-0 defeat to Southampton.

Yet Smith is not remembered at Villa for leaving a team struggling and only three points above the relegation zone, but for what came before that. Smith earned promotion in his first full season, secured safety in the Premier League and then earned an 11th placed finish last season.

He had to get Villa's squad up to scratch for Premier League football and then suffered the blow of Jack Grealish leaving for Manchester City and the players brought in last summer have yet to gel. Fans have planned to display a banner in support of Smith at today's game, which reads' one of our own thanks Deano' and the former Villa boss has offered his reaction.

"I'm told there is a banner going up, which I'm humbled by if that's the case," Smith said. "Everybody knows my upbringing being a Villa fan and the glory years of winning the league and the European Cup when I was a kid and I got the joy of being the manager there for three years, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

"I got an unbelievable amount of mail and texts from Villa fans when I left and they continue - a lot now have Norwich as their second team." Smith's replacement is fully behind an emotional welcome back for him.

"I'm sure there will be a lot of sentiment and emotion on his return and he deserves that," Gerrard said. "He left a lot of good