Aston
Villa manager Dean Smith has hailed the impact Ross Barkley has had since
his arrival from Chelsea.
The 26-year-old has impressed in midfield and scored twice in his three
appearances for Villa since joining the club on a season-long loan deal
earlier this month.
He was instrumental, linking up seamlessly on his debut with Jack Grealish,
in Villa's sensational 7-2 dismantling of Premier League champions
Liverpool, scoring his new side's fifth goal early in the second half.
Barkley, who is under contract at Chelsea until the summer of 2023, also
scored an injury-time winner at Leicester in Villa's 1-0 victory.
Smith believes Barkley's performances for his team reflect his ambitions to
be part of the England squad for next summer's European Championship.
"He's someone I felt we needed," said Smith ahead of Villa's Premier League
game at home against Southampton on Sunday.
"I look at the Premier League and you need legs in your midfield area
because you've got to cover a lot of ground in a game. Ross does that.
"He's got ambitions to get into the Euro squad at the end of the season.
With the quality Chelsea have got, they couldn't guarantee anyone minutes.
"His work ethic and attitude has been tremendous. He brings us that added
bit of quality that we needed."
Villa have made their best start to a season since 1930 but lost their 100
per cent record last week with a 3-0 defeat to Leeds at Villa Park.
Dean Smith addresses his players during the drinks break against Everton at
Goodison Park0:30
Smith is confident of a reaction from his players but he acknowledges the
threat posed by Southampton - particularly through their strike duo of Danny
Ings and Che Adams, who have six goals and four assists between them so far
this season.
"They've got goals in the team with Danny Ings and Che Adams - two strikers
that can stretch the game - and we have to be wary of their strengths," said
Smith.
"They've got a really good systematic approach that works for them. We'll
have to be at our best.
"They were good against Everton last week and had a really good comeback
against Chelsea (in a 3-3 draw) the week before as well.
"They've been a team that you can look at since 'Project Restart' that have
been really strong, solid and reliable."
Smith has an unchanged squad for Sunday's game. Bertrand Traore, Ahmed
Elmohamady and Conor Hourihane are available as options if he wants to
freshen up his team following the Leeds loss.
However, the Villa boss has made only one change to his starting line-up in
the Premier League so far this season - when he took out Hourihane and
handed Barkley his debut against Liverpool on October 4.
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