Aston Villa boss Dean Smith will not tolerate any negativity around the club.

Villa have taken just four points from their last seven matches, suffering five defeats along the way albeit against sides currently in the top six in Liverpool, Leicester, Manchester City, Chelsea and Wolves.

"We reflected on it, we reviewed it, and we spoke about what's expected, and for me, there was a lot of frustration shown with the players," said Smith.

"But then I reminded them that two games prior to that everything was rosy after we comfortably beat Newcastle (2-0) at Villa Park and drew 2-2 at Manchester United, a game we should have won.

"We then played two of the top four teams. We were narrowly beaten by Chelsea 2-1 on the night and we were pushing for an equaliser in the last 10 minutes, and lost to a team (Leicester) six points clear of Manchester City, who are highly acclaimed in Europe, not just the Premier League.

"So it's not all doom and gloom. Sometimes you have to put it all into a bit of perspective and we've certainly done that.

"There are lot of things we've learned from the last two performances and results against Chelsea and Leicester. We are learning all the time in this league, so what we have to do now is progress."