Aston Villa boss Dean Smith has described rumours of a huge tunnel bust up between himself and assistant John Terry as "b*******" and "miles off the mark".
Rumours ran rife after Villa's defeat to Southampton that the pair had clashed at full-time and had to be separated by Saints officials.
But the quote circulating on Twitter, apparently from Mark Regan of BBC West Midlands, is false. In fact, the journalist went on radio himself to deny reporting any such news and that the incident didn't occur.
When asked about the rumours, Villa boss Smith immediately shut them down - describing the fake news as "b*******". Smith says he didn't even see Terry at full-time.
There is no doubt that the defeat to Southampton piles more pressure on Villa. Shane Long scored after eight minutes and Stuart Armstrong sealed the win late on.
Villa now sit one point above the relegation zone and West Ham, Watford and Norwich all have a game in hand.
"We never laid a glove on them in the first 20 minutes," Smith told Match of the Day. "I try to defend the players but today was not good enough. They were miles off it in the first half. A bit better in the second half. It was a game that could have been won but we didn't create enough and didn't defend enough. They were deserved winners.
"Jack Grealish got in behind them right from kick off and then they went long. They were getting shots and we were getting blocks. We can't keep talking about getting good starts. Not starting well is a concern.
"We can't play that bad again. It gave me a lot of heart seeing them against Tottenham but today was dreadful.
"The fight disappointed me in the first half. There was a bit more fight in the second half. I will take responsibility for the performance because I am the one who picks them."
