Last week I wrote an article titled ‘Is our season over‘. This week, following a little bit of optimism I am going to turn that around in its head. Is our season still alive?
I am approaching this weekend feeling a little better about Aston Villa’s chances. Don’t get me wrong, there is still a lot of work to be done. We need to pick up a serious amount of points in the run in and hope other results go our way.
Despite only picking up a draw against Stoke, there were positives to take away from the performance. In particular the second half. Some would even argue that if it wasn’t for Jack Butland, Villa would have come away with all three points.
Other results seemed to go our way also. Bristol City currently occupies the final playoff position. They dropped points to Norwich City and Birmingham this week. We do still sit eight points behind them though and they have a game in hand. It isn’t impossible that we could still catch them
Three points required
As I already touched upon, Villa needs to start picking up maximum points and that starts this weekend against Derby. Derby are another side who occupy a playoff position so a win would only close the gap.
It won’t be easy though but again, it is possible. We proved that earlier in the season when we beat Frank Lampard’s men 3-0. The odds would have Derby favourites due to current form. However, with a free 10 no deposit football bet anything is possible.
Grealish return
As Sam wrote about earlier in the week, it is great news that Jack Grealish is once again available for selection. Will he make his highly anticipated return?
Pictures of him training and looking focused have been doing the rounds. The club has certainly built up his return so you would hope he is ready. I touched upon it last week, Could Jack’s return coincide with a turn around of fortunes for Dean Smith’s men?
I really hope so. I know it is a lot to put a player’s shoulders especially after being out for as long as he has. But if anyone is capable of doing it, I believe Jack is. Hopefully, it will give the squad a much-needed morale boost.
Another positive
Seeing as I am focusing on the positives this week it will be wrong for me not to mention Kortney Hause. We all know about his debut so let’s not talk about that too much.
In recent weeks his performances have been a massive improvement and he seems to be growing with more game time. The Wolves loanee seems to be making the left back slot his own.
His performance against Stoke was solid and earned him some positive reviews from the faithful. He won thirteen duels during the game, more than any other player. It highlights what he is capable of. Hopefully, we see more of the same this weekend.
