Aston Villa manager Dean Smith has launched a staunch defence of goalkeeper Lovre Kalinic after he came under fire for his performance against West Brom on Saturday.
The shot stopper was beaten in the first half by a looping effort from Hal Robson-Kanu before seeing another shot deflect off of Tommy Elphick to put it out of his reach as it slipped into the back of the net via the post.
Forced off at half time through injury and criticised for his part in the goals as well as the whole performance, Smith defended his goalkeeper, insisting there was nothing to be done when it came to the Baggies’ efforts.
He told the Express and Star: “For me there’s no question mark over the goalkeeper on the first goal. That is one of those crosses where it is deflected on.
“I don’t think any goalkeeper is saving that. It has looped over the top of a 6 foot 7 inch goalkeeper. No goalkeeper in the world would save it.”
Opinion
Kalinic has not set Villa Park alight with his performances since arriving in January and it could well be that Smith is simply trying to give his first team regular a confidence boost with his comments after another bad day at the office. It is not like the manager can call upon Kalinic’s predecessor between the sticks, Orjan Nyland, due to a serious injury suffered by the former mainstay and while Jed Steer is an option off the bench, axing the winter signing this early would be like signing his death warrant at Villa Park. He has got to show faith in the giant shot stopper, even if he is going through a rough patch, and defending him for the opener should take some pressure off the goalkeeper’s shoulders. Still, Kalinic has to improve if he is going to forge a future at the club, for his performances so far have been some way off the expected standard of the Villans faithful.