Aston Villa comment: Past results count for nothing when it comes to play-off final

If only it were that straightforward for Villa.

Derby’s remarkable comeback to stun Leeds on Wednesday night proved recent history counts for the square root of zero in the play-offs.

Leeds had beaten the Rams on each of the three previous occasions they had met this season, including Saturday’s semi-final first leg, by an aggregate 7-1 score.

Villa, of course, had seen off Derby by a combined score of 7-0 in their two league meetings, putting four without reply past their Midlands rivals as recently as March 2.

That now all feels rather moot, after Frank Lampard’s team pulled off one of the results of this or any other season to book their place in the final.

Confidence among Derby’s players will be absolutely soaring. After coming back from the dead on Wednesday night, they will surely believe anything is possible.

Yet so too should Villa.

True, the manner in which they claimed their own place in the final was not quite so thrilling. Tuesday’s penalty shootout win over Albion was more tense than exhilarating.

The performance over two legs, albeit against opponents who took a defensive approach, was some way from convincing.

What matters most is the whole picture.

For a team who just three months ago looked to be sailing to a mid-table finish, this has been a transformation of incredible proportions.

Albion unquestionably provided the sternest test to date and there will no doubt be some who feel Villa were a little fortunate to come through it.

But come through it they did. For all those worrying moments, particularly during the second half at The Hawthorns as the mentality which had delivered to that point showed signs of cracking, when it mattered most Villa held their nerve to progress on penalties.

At this point of the season, getting there is all that matters. The route taken is ultimately irrelevant and quickly forgotten.

Villa now find themselves in a one-off, winner-takes-all encounter with a team they know they can beat.

At the very least we have been saved from a build-up focusing on the events of Villa’s visit to Elland Road last month: The uncontested goal, Mateusz Klich, Conor Hourihane, Patrick Bamford et al.

Leeds chief executive Angus Kinnear was again drumming up the Yorkshire club’s continued – and slightly strange – sense of injustice in his programme notes for Wednesday’s game.

That is now all forgotten. If all goes to plan, Villa will not visit Elland Road next season.

Both meetings with Derby came at key moments of the campaign.

November’s 3-0 win at Pride Park, in Smith’s fifth game since replacing Steve Bruce, was the moment his reign finally had lift-off.

March’s 4-0 home victory, meanwhile, was the reboot. Jack Grealish returned, scored a spectacular volley and Villa have rarely looked back since.

The importance of both games – and results – now pales into insignificance compared to that on Monday week.

For two clubs where profit and sustainability rules are always on the mind, promotion and more particularly the estimated £170million windfall is a prize particularly craved. Only one will claim it.