All good things must come to an end, and Villa’s grand run of seven and counting was no different today. Fulham were full value for their 2-0 win, pulled within four of Villa, and dropped us to third.
As luck would have it, Villa’s aim for eight straight features us away to the Cottagers and potentially missing two of our brightest lights. I don’t know why, but when things are going well, it sort of always seems that someone important gets injured. Which isn’t to say that Villa can’t win without Jack Grealish and/or Albert Adomah.
It’s a bit dizzying being up so high in the table. For a day or two, at least. But there we were in second when Aston Villa came up aces in the Second City Derby with second-half goals from Albert Adomah and Conor Hourihane powering the home side to a 2-0 win over small heath.
Our magnificent FA Cup run is over, but I don’t think Steve Bruce was wrong to stay focused on the league. The Forest match is more important than extra games in a competition we’re not going to win. If we’ve weathered a bit of a storm and found ourselves coming out stronger on the other side, Villa are in a good spot to make a run at it over the final 20. And that’s all that counts.
Villa head to Pride Park to take on Derby County. If nothing else, this fixture and Sheffield United following will not only have a bearing on whether we remain in the playoff mix come the new year, they’ll also tell us something about our prospects if we do make the playoffs.
