Tyrone Mings: ‘Steven Gerrard is pushing us to limits we didn’t know we could go to’

Amid the excitement generated at Aston Villa by the arrival of Steven Gerrard as manager in November and signings such as Philippe Coutinho in January, it is easy to forget that less than three months ago folks around Villa Park were wondering whether the club might slip into a relegation battle.

If there is one match that encapsulates how badly pre-season plans went awry, it was the home game against West Ham on 31 October. There was a surprise before kick-off when the team sheet revealed that Dean Smith had dropped Tyrone Mings, who had been the linchpin of Villa’s defence since joining in 2019 when they were 10th in the Championship, becoming so influential that he was appointed club captain after Jack Grealish’s departure last summer. West Ham beat Villa 4-1, with Mings introduced as a second-half substitute after his usual partner in central defence, Ezri Konsa, was sent off. When Villa also lost their next match, against Southampton, the club took the difficult decision to jilt Smith, who had led them to promotion and survival.

In advance of Wednesday’s match against Leeds United, Mings reflects with characteristic intelligence on a see-saw season, speaks of higher points to come and tells of how being dropped drove him to take stock.

“Yes, it was a surprise,” he says. “Without bashing a man who doesn’t have the ability to defend himself any more because he’s no longer the manager – and respectfully because we went on an amazing journey together – I didn’t agree with the decision at the time. It felt like I was being scapegoated a little bit. But the manager is the manager and he felt that was the right moment to take me out of the team.

“I used it as a time of reflection. I had to look at my performances and ask: