Mile Jedinak: Promotion-chasing Aston Villa are one big family

The influential midfielder has been heartened by the growing bond between players and supporters, which he believes is key if the club are going to win promotion back to the Premier League.

Villa, who sit third in the table, host QPR on Saturday with momentum restored thanks to last weekend’s dramatic fightback to win 4-2 at Sheffield Wednesday.

And Jedinak said: “You only need to look at the scenes at the final whistle at Hillsborough.

“There’s a lot of unity here, and not just among the playing squad. The fans are really buying into this team and there’s a real mentality here now that we’re one big family – from players and coaches to staff and supporters.

“Things aren’t always going to go right and they’re not going to be good all of the time. But you’ve got to persist and get yourself out of those little problems when you do hit them – which we did at the weekend.

“It’s natural for things like that to happen, what’s important is that you keep believing throughout them and we’ll get to where we want to be.”

Jedinak joined Villa 18 months ago in a £4million move from Crystal Palace, with whom he won promotion to the Premier League through the play-offs in 2013.

“The togetherness has definitely come on a lot since I joined the club,” he said. “When we do well now that there’s a great feeling around the place – which is how it should be.

“We’re entering the last stint of the season and you really want to feel that energy from all around the club. We’ll feed off that buzz as players in any way we can to get ourselves over the line.”