Garry Thompson has challenged Aston Villa striker Tammy Abraham to make the difference against Derby County in the Championship play-off final after failing to impress him in the semi-final against West Brom.
Abraham has enjoyed an excellent season at Villa Park, having joined on loan from Chelsea, and the forward scored 26 goals in the regular Championship season to help fire Dean Smith’s side to a fifth place finish.
Thompson, a former Villa forward, has now urged Abraham to show his best form in the Championship play-off final, and believes the Englishman could be the key for Smith’s side, after showing good form against Derby already this season.
“Abraham will be right up for this one, as any player should be. If I were being honest you would have to say he was not quite at his best in either leg of the semi-final, even though he scored in the first,” Thompson told The Express & Star.
“But he always shows courage and rarely shies away, even when things aren’t going his way. Villa need him to be back up to the levels he has shown for most of the season at Wembley.”
“He’s scored in both games against Derby and the fact he will be facing a Chelsea team-make, Fikayo Tomori, should only encourage him further.”
OPINION
Abraham, as Thompson states, has been an impressive performer for Aston Villa throughout the season, and he was one of the players that kept Villa in with a chance of the play-offs during their slow start to the campaign. The striker, on loan from Chelsea, has been crucial to Smith’s side reaching the play-offs, with his 26 league goals and three assists vital to Villa’s prospects of earning promotion to the Premier League. Abraham is a very dangerous player in and around the penalty area for opposition defences, with the 21-year-old having the ability to find space in a crowded penalty area, which is evidenced by him attempting 2.9 shots per game, 2.1 of which came from inside the box this season. However, as Thompson acknowledges Abraham was not at his best during the play-off semi-finals against West Brom, whose defenders managed to mainly prevent the striker from getting the space he usually managed to locate inside the penalty area. Villa will need the 21-year-old back on form in the play-off final against Derby, and if he can produce his best game then he could well be the man to fire Smith’s side to promotion at Wembley.