Aston Villa have lost their last three games and tension is building around the club.

Everyone associated with the team will be absolutely desperate for a response on Sunday and this was discussed on the latest episode of the Claret & Blue podcast.

Ashley Preece and Pat Rowe discussed the current situation at Villa given the recent results.

And Preece warned Dean Smith of one outcome on Sunday: “For me, Smith is the right man for the job. He’s proved time and time again; he just needs to get it right in this rocky patch he’s having. They’ve lost three on the bounce and that can’t be four or five on the bounce.

“Otherwise, the pressure is then cranked up to another level, there is a lot to do this week for Dean Smith. He needs to prove a point to the fans and so do the players.”

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Preece went on to talk about how the players must also take a large part of the responsibility for the recent performances, adding: “The players have underperformed for him (Smith). Last week before his Arsenal press conference, I said he named an unchanged team and backed his players.

“He said Wolves was a freak game, I’m not too alarmed. Collapses of that nature hardly happen. Then for his players to put in that performance in the first 45 minutes after the manager has backed you, when he didn’t need to. It blew up in his face. The players owe everything to the manager this week.”

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Facing West Ham is a frightening prospect currently. They are in form and will have taken vast amounts of confidence from their win against Tottenham Hotspur and having recently knocked Jack Grealish and Manchester City out of the Carabao Cup.

Villa will need to respond after several weeks of disappointment, but it won’t be easy against David Moyes’ side. The only teams to record a higher expected goals value so far in the league are Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City.

It will be a tough game but if Villa can utilise a sold-out Villa Park crowd and the quality they possess in their squad and get a win, the momentum will be priceless as they approach a tough away fixture against Southampton.

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