Aston Villa gave themselves a crucial advantage heading into their second-leg match against West Brom, as they ran out 2-1 winners at Villa Park over the weekend. 

Dean Smith's side surprisingly fell behind in the first-half of this one though as Dwight Gayle capitalised on a mistake from Villa's Glenn Whelan.

But the hosts responded as Conor Hourihane stepped off the substitutes bench to fire home an equaliser in clinical fashion, before Tammy Abraham netted the winner from the penalty spot.

West Brom striker, Dwight Gayle was dismissed late on, and will leave a sizeable void up-front for James Shan's side, especially with Hal Robson-Kanu also out of the second-leg through suspension.

It's certainly going to be a closely-fought encounter between the two sides when they meet again on Tuesday, and Aston Villa will be hoping they can ease those nerves with an early goal at The Hawthorns.

But what have we learnt about Aston Villa after this latest win over the Baggies?

Find out below....

Tammy Abraham is key to their promotion chances

The on-loan Chelsea man continued his impressive run of form, as he scored his () goal of the season from the penalty spot, in what proved to be the winner on the day.

If Aston Villa are to win promotion back into the Premier League this season, then you can almost guarantee that Abraham will play a crucial role in the success of the Villans this year.

He'll be keen to get on the scoresheet in the second-leg, that's for sure.

Conor Hourihane staked a strong claim for a starting spot

There was some surprise when Hourihane was named amongst the substitutes for Villa on the day, with Glenn Whelan starting ahead of him.

But he couldn't have asked for a better performance coming off the bench as he netted the equaliser with a stunning strike from distance on the day.

He will certainly have provided Dean Smith with a selection headache for the second-leg.

They'll be favourites heading into the second-leg

They head into the second-leg with an important goal advantage, but Villa will know that their opponents will be without one of their key men for this crucial clash.

Dwight Gayle was sent off late into first-leg, and it'll certainly mean that the Villa defence will be in for a quieter game in the second-leg, with Jay Rodriguez the only recognised striker available for the Baggies.