Aston Villa and Derby County are one game away from making a return to the Premier League.
Darren Bent has stated that Aston Villa are like League One side Sunderland in the respect that they are Premier League clubs languishing in the lower leagues.
The former Sunderland striker pointed out how Villa’s stadium is ‘Premier League’ and that they need to make a return to England’s top-flight as soon as possible.
Dean Smith’s side have a great chance to do just that when they take on Frank Lampard’s Derby County in the play-off final on May 27th at Wembley.
Speaking to Sky Sports News (18/05/2019 at 4:55 pm), Bent admitted that his former club will be in for a ‘tough’ game against the Rams in seven days time.
“Like Sunderland, they are a Premier League side,” Bent told Sky Sports News. “The stadium is Premier League and they have been down in the Championship for some seasons now.
“They need to be back in the Premier League and they have a great chance. They have got good backing. Villa fans travel. They are playing free-flowing football and it’d be nice to see the back in there, but it’ll be a tough game against Derby.”
Both Villa and Sunderland will be walking up Wembley Way in this coming week – the former will be hoping to make a return to the promised land, whilst the Black Cats will be hoping to earn promotion from League One.
Villa and Sunderland are two of the biggest outside of the top-tier and their fans will be desperate to make that return to the Premier League one day.
The Midlands outfit are one game away and following their play-off final defeat to Fulham last May, they will be hoping to put things right this time around.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
