Dean Smith: Aston Villa head coach isolating for friendly with Walsall | Football News

Aston Villa head coach Dean Smith will miss Wednesday’s friendly against Walsol as he is in isolation.

Assistant coach Craig Shakespeare will take responsibility as Villa get their first friendly match before the 2021/22 season.

Fifty-year-old Smith has played 142 games for Walsall in his playing career and has also managed them from 2011-2015. She will enter her fourth season with Aston Villa after joining from Brentford in 2018.

After leading them in their first year of responsibility, Villa Smith finished in the Premier League in 2019/20 before finishing 11th in the 17th season last season.

They will begin their league campaign on August 14 with an away game at Watford.

Prior to that, they played friendly matches against Stoke City (July 24), Nottingham Forest (July 28), Bristol City (July 31) and Sevilla (August 7).