Smith says he wants the Villans to establish themselves as a Premier League team and keep pushing for major European competitions.
Aston Villa returned to the Premier League in the 2019/2020 season and had to fight hard to stay up as they finished 17th in that campaign.
Smith’s men bettered their 2019/2020 season to finish 11th on the Premier League table last season and the Englishman is looking to push his men into one of the spots in UEFA competitions just like what David Moyes did with West Ham United last season.
"After getting promoted, our remit was to stay up and we have progressed from 17th to 11th," the 50-year-old told the media in his press conference ahead of Aston Villa’s home game against Everton in the Premier league on Saturday.
"The next step is the hardest because you have to try to go past established Premier League teams.
"Some of those teams have been top-four teams in the last decade as well - Arsenal, Tottenham and Everton come into that category. West Ham did brilliantly last season and we want to emulate that this season if we can.
Villa have recorded four points in their first four league games this season and Smith has admitted his side are yet to get going this season.
He concluded: "We haven't made as good a start as we would have liked but it's important the confidence we built up in the Chelsea game, despite the scoreline, is taken into the home game."
