Dean Smith 'devastated' for Aston Villa players
Dean Smith declared himself “devastated” for Villa’s players after Wednesday night’s thrilling and historic goal-fest with Nottingham Forest.
The 5-5 draw was the first-ever in Villa Park’s 122-year history and saw Tammy Abraham become the first Villa player since David Platt to score four in a game.
Villa fought back from behind on three occasions after Forest had taken the a 2-0 lead inside six minutes.
Substitute Anwar El Ghazi eventually put them 5-4 up with 16 minutes remaining after visiting defender Tobias Figueiredo had been shown a straight red card for a foul on John McGinn.
But Smith’s men were unable to hold on for what would have been a fourth straight win as former Villa loan star Lewis Grabban, who had opened the scoring, salvaged a point for the visitors.
Smith said: “I’m devastated for the players. To come back so many times and then at 5-4 you are thinking we are going to go on and win it.
“On top of that, we have also missed some very good chances. Tammy has missed a couple of headers, we had two disallowed goals as well.
“It’s total disappointment. I always felt in control of the game and I know that sounds weird. We’ve had 26 attempts on goal today, against their eight. Our goalkeeper has not made a save.
“I’m devastated for the players and disappointed it is not another three points at Villa Park.
“But the appreciation from the home fans at the end shows they can see what we are trying to do. We just need to tighten up a bit.”
Abraham’s feat matched that achieved by Platt in a 6-2 League Cup win over Ipswich 30 years ago.
Smith added: “He’ll be disappointed he didn’t get six because he had two big chances to get six. He is a player whose attitude and application are second to none. He is great to have around and you can see his workrate.
“He has a love for Aston Villa at the moment and you can see that in the way he plays. He is probably disappointed he has not scored more goals because in the seven games I have been here, he has certainly had a lot of chances. But he gets those chances because of his workrate.”
Forest boss Aitor Karanka praised the spirit of his team but added: “I have never been involved in a game like that before and I never want to be again.”
