OPINION
Aston Villa manager Dean Smith will be quietly confident about his side’s chances of promotion after he hears Darren Moore and Jim White talk about the intense battle to reach the Premier League.
The Sky Sports presenter asked the former West Bromwich Albion manager for his thoughts on the Championship clubs sniffing around the play-off places and gushed about the incredible run Villa were on in the process.
“Your former club West Brom are in a pack who will fight to the death to go up and Aston Villa have come in on an incredible run Darren,” said White on Sky Sports News (17:30, Thursday April 18th).
Moore agreed and echoed White’s verdict on Villa by saying they have timed their run well, and highlighted how important that is when it comes to winning promotion from the Championship.
“Yeah thing now is timing your run, finding consistency and getting ready to prepare, even now there’s a lot of football to be played right way until the last kick of the season,” said Moore.
“Villa have timed the run well, there’s some big clubs in there, some real big clubs and now at this time of the season, it’s mental, it’s about holding your nerve and you will see a lot of twist and turns and by the end of this Easter weekend that table will be very different.”
The former Baggies boss claimed that winning promotion through the play-offs was all about finding your consistency and timing your run perfectly.
Given that White and Moore are spot-on to suggest the Villans have reached top-form at a fantastic time and that Smith’s side have been so consistent that they have won their last eight games on the bounce; Aston Villa currently tick both those boxes.
With that in mind Smith will be quietly confident that his side are heading in the right direction to win promotion this season, as it’s not like either White or Moore particularly gushed about anyone else.