Aston Villa fans are set to pay tribute to Norwich City boss Dean Smith when he returns to Villa Park today.

Fans have planned to display a banner in support of Smith at today's game, which reads' one of our own thanks Deano' and the former Villa boss has offered his reaction.

"I'm told there is a banner going up, which I'm humbled by if that's the case," Smith said. "Everybody knows my upbringing being a Villa fan and the glory years of winning the league and the European Cup when I was a kid and I got the joy of being the manager there for three years, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

"I got an unbelievable amount of mail and texts from Villa fans when I left and they continue - a lot now have Norwich as their second team." Smith's replacement is fully behind an emotional welcome back for him.

"I'm sure there will be a lot of sentiment and emotion on his return and he deserves that," Gerrard said. "He left a lot of good players and a lot of good work behind, I think the guy deserves a welcome."

And former Villa assistant John Terry, who worked under Smith for most of his time at the club, called it a 'touch of class' on social media.