Dean Smith has heaped praise on defender Kortney Hause and insisted he knew the defender would come good after a tough start.

The 23-year-old arrived at Villa Park in January on an initial loan deal from Wolves but failed to make a postive impact initially.

He was particularly poor on his debut as Villa lost 3-0 at Wigan, whilst he didn't convince in his first start at Brentford either.

However, he has improved significantly since, starring alongside Tyrone Mings at centre-back in recent weeks. And, Smith told Birmingham Live that he was pleased with how Hause has responded.

[ad_pod ]

"We are not going to judge people quickly at all because we knew the potential that was there. We had to bring it out by coaching him and making him physically fit as well.

"I think we have done that and people are starting to see the fruition of that. He is a player with tremendous potential and is still very young. He’s doing really well for us."

Hause is expected to start in defence today as Villa look for a fourth successive win at home to Middlesbrough.

The Verdict

Hause deserves a lot of credit for how he's turned things around as he really wasn't popular with supporters after his first few games.

Additionally, as Smith says, the coaching staff deserve praise too as they've clearly helped the defender too.

Now, it's about maintaining the high standards he has set, which will surely see Villa sign Hause on a permanent basis.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.