It has been a long time since we’ve been top of anything other than the flops but as you read this Aston Villa Football Club is top of the Championship form table.
This is a great sign that we may have turned a corner and that we are finally able to string good performances together which yield positive results.
While it is of course important not to get carried away, there is nothing wrong with enjoying our current good form.
This weekend provides the club with a test that, depending on how they do, could be a significant sign for the future.
International breaks are always much maligned – and I can see why. It is frustrating that our football has to be put to one side while England plays Lithuania.
However, much as we don’t like it, we do have a break so making the most of it is very important.
A week off can go one of two ways.
The first, and much more negative, impact it could have is a sudden stopping of momentum.
While we were doing well, it was really exciting to bring the next game on to see if we could keep the run going.
It is crucial that the players do not lose the intensity, passion and togetherness with which they have been playing recently.
I am confident that Bruce can drum that message into the players so they bring their A game against Norwich City on April 1st.
It feels like we have had numerous chances in the last four or five years to put a stop to the slide down the tables and leagues and we have taken none of them.
Now we have found some form and have the opportunity of finishing this season strongly, which is a crucial bedrock upon which to build a promotion-wining season next year.
The second way an international break could go is that it could give the players a chance to rest, recover full fitness and come back even stronger.
I hope that the players themselves find the weekend off (other than the international players) as frustrating as we fans do so that they are raring to go the following week.
If we come back as strong as we have been then we have a really good chance of finishing the season in some style. I don’t have the play-offs as a realistic goal for this season because of our previous sporadic poor form but we have to aim for them and keep up our intensity.
It feels good to be supporting a team finally getting results again; it’s been a while and may not last but let’s hope the international break helps make sure it does.