Aston Villa picked up a 2-1 win away at Tottenham on Wednesday night, producing a really positive performance as we try to finish the season on a high.
Sergio Reguilon’s own goal and Ollie Watkins’ 14th Premier League of the season saw us turn things around after Steven Bergwijn had given the hosts an early lead.
READ MORE: Villa player ratings vs Tottenham: McGinn, Mings brilliant in impressive win
While Villa are now set to finish 11th in the Premier League table this season, Dean Smith will no doubt want to see his side finish the campaign well and take that momentum into next year.
Chelsea visit Villa Park on Sunday with a limited crowd in attendance, and it’s hoped that we can produce a performance like this one to really spark excitement and optimism about our continued progression next season.
Mings reiterates importance
While he’s been guilty of some costly errors this season, there is no doubt over how important Tyrone Mings is to our defence as he showcased his quality in this one.
We missed his presence and leadership against Crystal Palace and that was arguably a contributing factor as to why we twice surrendered the lead at Selhurst Park.
It was great to have him back for this clash, and he showed his class in keeping things tight at the back and marshalling the backline well.
Grealish building back to best
After back-to-back appearances off the bench, Jack Grealish finally made his comeback to the Villa starting line-up in midweek and it was brilliant to see it.
He had ice strapped to his shin after coming off and so it’s hoped that his injury issues haven’t flared up again after a lengthy outing, but he showed his class at times and displayed how he makes us tick going forward with his influence in the final third.
If Villa can add more quality around him to lessen the burden on his shoulders, we’ll be a real problem for opposition defences next season and beyond.
Watkins continues to lead the way
That’s now 14 Premier League goals so far this season in his debut campaign in the top flight, with Ollie Watkins now becoming the leading English goalscorer in a single season for Villa.
Aside from the goals, his movement, ability to run the channels to stretch defences and create space for others as well as his work ethic to press and pressure defenders make a huge difference to our play.
It’s hoped that he still has levels to go through and we haven’t seen the best of him yet, and if we can add more quality service around him, he should thrive off it.
Chukwuemeka makes highly-anticipated debut
Villa fans know all about how talented Carney Chukwuemeka is, and we hope that he can play a key role in helping the U18s lift the FA Youth Cup trophy on Monday night.
However, he finally got his big moment for the senior side on Wednesday, as he came on in the second half and showed that he wasn’t fazed one bit by his senior debut.
Not only did he look composed and settled quickly, he even went close with an effort from distance which struck the post, and so Dean Smith will no doubt be delighted with what he saw from the youngster as he’ll be pushing for more appearances next season.
Crucial to end season well
It’s been an inconsistent and frustrating watch in the second half of the season since January, and it threatened to undo some of the fine work the team produced in the first half of the campaign.
Some will insist it’s progress from last season, others will rue the missed opportunity of kicking on this season and competing up the table as the opportunity was there.
However, perhaps it’s simply a bit of both. Villa barely avoided relegation last season and so to finish comfortably in mid-table is progression, but all concerned will be disappointed we didn’t push on from that. Given our performances and results in general since January, it was imperative we finished well to build some confidence and momentum for next season, and an away win like this one certainly does that.