Dean Smith could give a first Premier League start to new signing Bertrand Traore on Monday, with the former Lyon forward already impressing his new boss at Aston Villa.
The £17m acquisition made a scoring start to his Villa career in a 3-0 Carabao Cup win at Bristol City on Thursday and Smith admitted being left with “food for thought” over his team selection for their trip to Fulham on Monday Night Football, live on Sky Sports.
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Villa made a winning start to the new league campaign with a 1-0 victory over Sheffield United, but Smith could make a number of changes after being pleased with his those who missed out.
Asked if Monday might could come too soon for Traore’s league debut, Smith said: “No, it’s not too early. He’s trained really well, he looks fit.
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Fulham vs A Villa
September 28, 2020, 5:00pm
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“The French league curtailed early last season but his team were in the Champions League so he’s been training pretty regularly.
“His fitness levels are really good and he’s certainly made a good start.
“It’s only early stages, we’ve only had one Premier League game and a couple of Carabao Cup games.
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“We’ve started well and what the Thursday game gave me was certainly a lot of food for thought.
“The players who hadn’t played in the first Premier League game all performed really well and showed me they’re pushing for places.
“The players who started against Sheffield United know they are going to have to be on their toes to keep their shirts.”
Villa have ‘finger on the pulse’ for one more signing
Smith credited his side’s recruitment with assisting their strong start to the season and insists the spending may not be over just yet.
Villa are targeting one further signing before next week’s international deadline, with Smith hoping for a versatile attacking player.
“We’re always looking in the market,” Smith said. “We’re probably one short in the squad at the moment.
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“Things change very quickly in football. Our sporting director has got his finger on the pulse and hopefully we might get one more in and maybe a couple more out.
“There’s a number of positions still [we’re looking at]. With Ally [Samatta] going out, you look at the forward line but also a midfielder as well. We’ll see if there’s one that can fit both for us.
“We recruited what we felt were high quality signings. We wanted to improve the quality of our team and that performance on Thursday has shown that we’ve done that.
“What we need is to go into every Premier League game believing we have got a team capable of winning and if I turn round, know I’ve got the quality on the bench to change the game when need be.”
