Aston Villa have a slight advantage against West Bromwich Albion heading into the second play-off semi-final on Tuesday.
Jimmy Shan has admitted that the Aston Villa fans were ‘lively’ and ‘energetic’ during their crucial 2-1 win against West Brom on Saturday afternoon.
Dean Smith’s side have a slender lead from the first leg of their play-off semi-final encounter after a highly-charged game in the Midlands.
Villa came from 1-0 down to score two goals in the last 15 minutes, with substitute Conor Hourihane’s strike from outside of the area being too good for opposition goalkeeper Sam Johnstone. Tammy Abraham then doubled Villa’s lead from the penalty spot minutes later after a foul on Jack Grealish by Kieran Gibbs.
Speaking to Sky Sports Football after Albion’s loss to Villa (11/05/2019), Shan is hoping his supporters can play a part in overturning Villa’s one-goal lead when they meet for the second leg next Tuesday.
“Our crowd will play a massive part [in the second leg],” Shan told Sky Sports Football. “Their crowd was very, very good today. They were lively. They were energetic.”
Earlier on in the season, Smith’s side recorded a 2-2 draw at The Hawthorns with winger Anwar El Ghazi netting a sublime double.
That same scoreline on Tuesday night would see Villa progress to the final and make a second trip to Wembley after losing to Fulham last May.
In the other play-off semi-final, Leeds recorded a 1-0 win over Derby County at Pride Park and a result other than a defeat would also see them making a trip to the capital along with Villa.
But given the drama of the Championship, there could yet be more twist and turns as Leeds, Villa, West Brom and Derby aim for that final Premier League spot.
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