'Dean Smith has done a superb job at Aston Villa'

I was covering Aston Villa in the Championship in October 2018 when Dean Smith was appointed as their manager with the club in the bottom half of the division.

He has taken them to fifth in the Premier League with games in hand on all of the sides around them which is a brilliant effort.

He has done a superb job and it's just so heart-warming to see one of the genuinely nice guys doing so well at a club he loves.

You obviously have to be ruthless to manage at the highest level, but you don't have to be horrible and it's fantastic to see Villa on this impressive run under Smith.

I am reliably informed that he is not one of these robotic managers. He likes his players to solve problems for themselves and you can see the confidence oozing out of them at the moment.

When Smith got Villa up I didn't expect them to be fighting against relegation in their first season back but they needed to spend money to replace the loanees and it was perhaps telling that sporting director Jesus Garcia Pitarch carried the can for their battle against the drop.

You can see Smith has had much more of a say in the signings during the last transfer window. Ollie Watkins was definitely one of his and I imagine Ross Barkley was also somebody that Smith pushed for now he has more control on transfer dealings.

All managers strive for the perfect balance and Villa have it almost spot on at the moment.

They have created 30 big chances in this season's Premier League - only Liverpool and Manchester City have better figures - and they are second for goals against with the most clean sheets in the Premier League

There's a good blend and structure to them and who is to say Villa can't continue this amazing season? I don't see the fun stopping at Old Trafford and fancy them to pick up at least a point.

I wasn't impressed by Manchester United's 1-0 win over Wolves, a team I really like, but Villa have more about them than Wanderers at the moment.

Villa are more dangerous in the final third and in Jack Grealish have the individual to carry a genuine threat to United.

A couple of months ago people were debating whether Grealish should be in the England team for the Euros but if he keeps up this form how could you leave him out?

If Marcus Rashford and Raheem Sterling have the wing positions locked down then Grealish will have to play as the number ten in a 4-2-3-1. He is so good at the moment he must start.

I also think Watkins deserves some recognition. He is arguably the unluckiest player in the Premier League this season and with a bit more fortune he could quite easily have had another five or six goals with the woodwork and marginal offside calls going against him.

I had my doubts as to whether Watkins would be able to make the step up from Brentford but he looks the part.

Someone told me that Smith said to the Villa players at half-time of the game against Crystal Palace that Watkins was the best striker they could possibly wish for to play with ten men once Tyrone Mings was sent off.

Watkins runs the channels, holds the ball up and has a good touch. Combine that with his pace and energy and you have someone who occupies two centre-backs.

The goals will come, but don't underestimate the job Watkins does defensively for Villa either and it would be dangerous to dismiss their chances at United.

*Scott Minto presents the Racing Post's weekly YouTube football show in association with Betfred