Tyrone Mings: Aston Villa must kick on

Dean Smith’s men snapped a five-game winless run by battering the Rams 4-0 to record their biggest victory of the campaign to date.

Villa, who next travel to rivals Blues in Sunday’s Second City derby, sit six points adrift of the top play-off positions with just 11 games to play.

But Bournemouth loanee Mings reckons they cannot be ruled out if they start serving up performances like Saturday on a regular basis.

He said: “Anything is possible if we play like we did against Derby.

“Performances have been good in flashes – late against Sheffield United and before we conceded against West Brom.

“This league is so tight and everybody beats everybody. It’s now time to start a run. It was a great way to begin against Derby. Everyone did their jobs and we sent the fans home happy.”

Mings pointed to the return of Jack Grealish as a key factor in the transformation of Villa, who had won just two of their previous 14 Championship games.

The 23-year-old capped his return from a near three-month injury lay-off with a stunning volleyed goal on the stroke of half-time.

“The impact of having one of your key players back is sometimes a mental thing,” said Mings.

“He’s a fantastic player, but coming back into the team alone gave everyone a lift.”

For Mings, Saturday also represented a first taste of victory in a Villa shirt at the sixth attempt since joining from the Cherries on transfer deadline day.

The 25-year-old, who has impressed with his performances, was part of a Villa defence which kept a clean sheet on home turf for the first time since early November.

“The over-riding feeling is relief,” said Mings. “We have not played like we are clearly capable of and there has been frustration over the last few weeks, which has now turned into relief.

“It was great to put in a positive performance and get a positive result. But it’s important not to get too high.”