Smith: We must win Championship again now

Norwich manager Dean Smith has vowed his side must now aspire to win the Championship again next season after they were relegated following a 2-0 defeat to his former side Aston Villa.

Following confirmation of relegation at Villa Park, Smith said: "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 Mike Riley.

"The Premier League is tough. I was at Aston Villa a couple of years ago and we got promoted and we spent £125m to try and stay in the league. The key to it, for me, is when you play against the teams in and around you, that you feel you are going to be competing with.

"In the big games, against [teams like} Liverpool, Man City and Chelsea, you try and scrap to get something out of those games where you can. We all know there is a gulf in quality between the top three and the rest of the league. Ultimately, we've come up short.

"We've got a great base to go with, good foundations. It's a well-run football club. The last two times we've been in the Championship, we've won it. That's what we have to aspire to again now. "

Villa sacked Smith in November last year after a run of five successive defeats in the Premier League and replaced Daniel Farke as the Canaries' boss one week later, with the club placed rock-bottom in the division.

Smith appeared to trigger a short-lived bounce