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Aston Villa boss Dean Smith feeling no added pressure ahead of Brentford return

Villa boss Dean Smith insists there will be no extra pressure on his shoulders when he returns to former club Brentford tomorrow night.

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Smith takes Villa to Griffin Park hunting a victory to both kick-start their promotion push and end a rotten Championship record against the Bees.

Villa are winless in five attempts against Brentford and have lost both trips to west London in the past two seasons.

And Smith, who switched clubs in October, said: “Is there more pressure on me? No, not really.

“What I have to try and do is turn around the Brentford-Aston Villa form. As Brentford manager I seemed to beat Aston Villa every time at Griffin Park. Hopefully I can take Aston Villa there on Wednesday and win.”

Smith’s focus is on out-thinking his successor as Brentford boss, Thomas Frank. The Dane worked for two years as his assistant.

“I have to think of a way to go and beat them now and tactically out-think Thomas, who I worked with closely for two years,” he said.

“I am really looking forward to it. I have a lot of friends, staff, players and directors, the owner.

“He is one of the first people who texted me on Friday night when we came back to draw with Sheffield United.

“They are just really good people and I loved my time there. I will look forward to going and seeing them. But I have a job in hand and that is Aston Villa.”

Villa have confirmed their players will wear black armbands in tribute to 1975 League Cup-winning skipper Ian Ross, following his death at the age of 72.