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Steven Gerrard has admitted it will be “fascinating” to go up against his predecessor Dean Smith so soon when Aston Villa visit Norwich on Tuesday night.

Gerrard replaced Smith as Villa boss last month and has made a decent start in the job. Since his appointment, Gerrard has overseen three wins from five games. The two defeats were to two of the title favourites, Manchester City and Liverpool.

Next up, they are shifting their attention to a different kind of challenge. Relegation-threatened Norwich will be battling them on Tuesday. There is an added layer of intrigue due to the fact that Smith is now in charge at Carrow Road.

Villa through and through, he will be putting his loyalties to one side for the game. It will be just as Gerrard did when leading his side against Liverpool at the weekend.

Even so, the fact that Smith has worked with Gerrard’s squad so recently makes it an interesting spectacle.

“That is something we can’t change,” Gerrard said of Smith’s knowledge of the squad.

“He spent a long time here building a good team and a good squad and he had success here. So he knows the players very well.

“That is the fascinating thing about this game. He knows my players well. But both managers have now put their stamps on their individual teams and may the best team win.”

Gerrard will not be able to call upon the full squad that Smith left behind. He has confirmed there have been a few positive cases of Covid-19 among the squad and staff.

It prompted the cancellation of training on Sunday. But Gerrard – who refused to name the individuals affected – was working with the team again on the eve of the game.

“I haven’t changed any protocols, I have just listened to the guidance and tried to stick to all the guidelines,” he explained.

“I made the decision yesterday, because it was a recovery day, and because we didn’t have a pitch session, and on the back of receiving a couple of positive cases, I thought it was just common sense to just cancel the session.

“We re-tested this morning and we have got a couple of staff and a couple of players missing for the foreseeable future. But the vast majority have come through the test this morning and we look forward to competing against Norwich tomorrow.”

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In addition, midfielder Marvelous Nakamba will be out for the next couple of weeks due to injury.

“He has had an MRI scan which has shown a knee issue so he will be missing this side of Christmas for sure and he will see a specialist on Tuesday, and we will have a further update then,” Gerrard confirmed.

Smith puts sentiment aside for Villa reunion

While Gerrard was complimentary of Smith, Norwich’s new boss admitted he would not find it too difficult to put his emotions on one side.

“It’s the next game to be honest,” he said. “I was manager there a month ago and somebody made a decision where I’m not the manager any more. I’m not in control of that so I move on very quickly.

“I’m enjoying life at Norwich and it just so happens to be Aston Villa tomorrow. If it was Manchester City or Liverpool, it’s the same. I’ve got to get three points. I made a statement when I left that football club and I stand by every word of it. They’ve moved on and I’ve moved on.

“In my 34 years in professional football, only three of them have been at Aston Villa. So, as much as I support Leyton Orient, Walsall, Port Vale, Sheffield Wednesday, Brentford – you move on very quickly, and you have to.

“I’ll always be a Villa fan. I was quite proud of the fact my boy came back from America and he wanted to go to watch Liverpool-Villa rather than Norwich-Manchester United. All our family are Villa fans, but I know he’ll be at the game tomorrow night and he’ll be supporting Norwich.”

He also echoed Gerrard’s view that his knowledge of the squad may be an advantage. However, he also admitted it could work both ways.

“There’s an advantage obviously that I know the strengths and weaknesses of all the players because I brought the majority of them in,” Smith agreed.

“But they also know what I’m about as well so they’ll know what I’ll be looking to do. Steven’s gone in there with his own ideas. Watching the games, you’re starting to learn a little bit about them, as they will be with my Norwich team.”

READ MORE: Aston Villa star who ‘wants to leave’ likely on the move in January

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