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There were a couple of times in this game when a fidgeting Dean Smith took a hurried glance at his watch and, after a fifth successive Premier League defeat, the Aston Villa hierarchy must decide whether to stick or twist. Smith had spoken of a determination within the camp to put things right but the signs look increasingly ominous after another jarring display. Aston Villa had grand plans of building on last season’s mid-table finish with a drive towards the European places but, although unlikely, a painful defeat at Southampton means they could yet end the weekend in the relegation zone.Smith had stressed the importance of Villa going back to basics if they were to break from their slump, namely the need to rediscover a defensive steel after conceding 12 goals in their previous four games, but with little more than a couple of minutes on the clock, the air still cooling from the pre-match pyrotechnics, that message had also gone up in flames. James Ward-Prowse, whooshed the ball forward from halfway, beating a half-hearted Emiliano Buendía to it, and when it bounced free on the edge of the box Adam Armstrong smacked in a sweet first-time shot on the half-volley. Continue reading...