Aston Villa ended their three-year absence from the Premier League on Monday afternoon.
Gabby Agbonlahor stated on Instagram that Aston Villa are ‘back where we belong’ after they beat Derby 2-1 at Wembley on Monday to book themselves a return to the Premier League.
John Terry was also praising Villa’s achievement as he was seemingly pleased that they put the wrongs of last season’s play-off final defeat to Fulham right.
It was a cagey first half at Wembley, with Villa taking the lead just before the break when Anwar El Ghazi converted Ahmed Elmohamady’s cross.
John McGinn then doubled Villa’s lead in the second half before substitute Jack Marriott pulled one back for his team with 10 minutes left on the clock, but his strike wasn’t enough.
After the match, Agbonlahor and Terry sent these messages on their personal Instagram accounts:
Villa will now be planning for life in England’s top tier after spending three years in the Championship where they finished in mid-table, reached the play-off final and then followed it up with the win on Monday.
The Midlands outfit have a number of loan signings at their club, from Tammy Abraham to Tyrone Mings and it remains to be seen whether they’ll be part of Smith’s plans next term.
Boyhood fan Smith was appointed Villa manager in October and he has already guided them back to the Premier League despite not having a pre-season under his belt.
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