Aston Villa still just about alive in Championship play-off race

There is no question, though, that Dean Smith and his men are now very much in the last-chance saloon.

Beat the Rams tomorrow and Villa will have the opportunity, as unlikely as it currently may seem, to get themselves firmly back into the race during a fortnight which also includes games against Blues, Nottingham Forest and Boro.

Each of their next six games, right up to the trip to Sheffield Wednesday on April 6, are against opponents who still harbour hopes of promotion themselves.

The fixture list should be viewed as nothing other than a big opportunity. So too should the inconsistent form of just about everyone else involved in the race.

Villa, by rights, should be dead and buried, thanks to a run of just two wins in 13 games dating back to early December.

It seems incredible, then, that the gap between themselves and the top six has grown by only six points during that period.

Every time they have looked set to be knocked out of contention, those teams above has slipped up, Bristol City’s 2-1 defeat to Blues on Tuesday night ensuring the deficit remained in single figures.

Other midweek results saw Villa slide to 13th in the table. Overtaking seven teams over the remaining 12 games is a tall order in anyone’s book, while little about their form suggests they are a team currently capable of securing the minimum 10 wins probably needed between now and May.

Recent history, however, provides a reminder of why you just cannot write them off.

Back in February 2017, Villa hosted Derby having lost eight of their previous nine games and with Steve Bruce, then just four months into his reign, under mounting pressure.

A 1-0 victory that day saw them go on to win six of the next seven, proof once more the Championship is a division fortunes can and frequently do change, often when you least expect it. Smith will be hoping history repeats itself, as a similar run now would put Villa right back in the mix. First, however, they must beat the Rams.

The return of Jack Grealish will provide a timely boost to a team who, during the second half of last weekend’s 1-1 draw at Stoke, showed flashes of rediscovering their swagger. “I believe Jack is the best player in the league and any team that loses that kind of quality would suffer,” said Smith earlier this week. “We’ve suffered a bit, so we’re looking forward to having him back.”

Derby, six places but just six points higher up the table, arrive suffering from their own crisis of confidence following a three-game winless run which includes back-to-back defeats to Millwall and Forest.

Their struggles, much like Villa’s, can be traced to the loss of an influential playmaker. In the Rams’ case, it is Mason Mount, the Chelsea loanee having not played since suffering a hamstring injury during an FA Cup tie at Accrington in late January.