Axel Tuanzebe: Aston Villa will come good under Dean Smith

The Manchester United prospect is in the midst of his second spell at Villa Park, but had been utilised in a number of positions under former boss Steve Bruce - including spells at right-back and defensive midfield.

But having seen Bruce depart, the 20-year-old is now enjoying a lengthy spell in the heart of defence. A role he feels he will flourish in.

"It's my natural position, it's where I've played for a long time. I feel more comfortable there, I'd only like to portray myself as a centre-back." he said.

"I'm still sure there's more to come, we're still going through a phase of change and I'm sure when we fully cement that phase you'll be seeing the best of me."

Villa started their new era under Smith with a 1-0 win over Swansea, but defeats at Norwich and QPR have dampened the honeymoon period under the former Brentford boss.

Tuanzebe insists that whilst results haven't gone their way, that performances have improved as Smith's tactics have been implemented and that the season is far from over.

"It's been good so far. Obviously the results haven't been in our favour but I feel like we're playing good football, we're playing a style that I enjoy - keeping the ball trying to create something." he said.

"The manager's adapted well to us, we've adapted well to him. I think all the lads understand what he's trying to achieve in terms of our playing style and I think it's only going to improve in the coming games.

"You can see from his past clubs how they play football, we're building out from the back, we take more time in creating chances, it's not as direct as we used to be, but it's still a good way of building and improving our way of playing.

"It gives us a variety of ways to create chances and also it means we have more possession of the ball, we're resting on the ball so we have more energy to create something whilst we have it.

"I've enjoyed his training sessions, his methods of play so it's been good so far.

"It suits my type of play, it's the type of play we have back at United. It's all beneficial for me to carry it on from here back into my home club so there's nothing better for me."

Villa currently sit 17th in the Championship, 11 points behind leaders Sheffield United and seven points from play-off contention.

Tuanzebe believes that things will soon click under Smith, and that they'll begin turning performances into results, which will in-turn see Villa climb the table.

"You can see the way we're playing. We're dominating games, we just need to add that final touch which I'm sure will come." he said.

"We have the right candidates to do so, I'm sure a bit of training out on the field can perfect that and hopefully start winning our games.

"You can see the differences are marginal, three games on the bounce and you're back into play-off positions. It's not dead, there's still a lot of the season to play.

"Obviously we're going through a change. Changes require patience. I'm sure we've seen that in the past, so this is our phase of change and once we've fully adapted to it I'm sure we'll start winning our games."