Aston Villa manager Dean Smith has revealed he now organises training for later in the day to accommodate his players' late-night gaming.

Football is a sport that is constantly changing, as managers look for new ways to get ahead of their competitors.

In the case of Aston Villa, Smith has revealed what separates the Villans from how teams would usually train during the week.

“Teams normally train at 10:30 am but we train at 12pm now,” the Villa manager told The Times, via Ashley Preece's tweet.

“Players, young men, they’re different. They don’t go to bed at 11 pm, they go to bed at 2 am. They’ve all got an Xbox, a PS4 and they’re up later.”

Smith later added: “Sleep is such an important part of recovery.”

The Birmingham-based side have the youngest average age in the Premier League of 25.1 according to Transfermarkt.

Furthermore, out of the 20 players in the match-day squad against Wolves, 12 of those individuals were 26 years old or younger.

GIVEMESPORT’s Tom Kelly says…

Smith has stated that sleep is an important part of recovery and based upon Aston Villa's form this season, this slight change to their training regime has proven to be a huge success. 

The Villans secured Premier League safety on the final day of last season and now currently sit just inside the top half of the table in ninth position. 

In such a short space of time, Smith has managed to turn Villa's form on its head as they are currently within touching distance of Europa League football. 

Furthermore, the Villans have also taken points from Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Leicester so far this season, which might have been completely unthinkable a year ago. 

To an extent, this example of adapting traditional training methods to the modern world is an excellent piece of man-management from Smith. He understands the needs of his players and is actively trying to support them in order to achieve the best results. 

He probably likes the extra hour in bed, too.