Ahmed Elmohamady believes Aston Villa will be challenging for promotion again next season.

Villa's season ended in heartbreak with a 1-0 defeat to Fulham in the Championship Play-Off Final. The team started the match poorly with a nervy first half performance, which saw them punished because Fulham cut them apart with a goal by Tom Cairney. They were much better in the second half, though, and Denis Odoi's sending off meant they put on relentless pressure towards the end, but the Cottagers didn't break.

Failing to achieve promotion to the Premier League means they can't afford to sign loanees permanently as well as potentially losing some of their best players due to the gulf in revenue between the two divisions.

Elmohamady was an injury doubt coming into this game, but he played anyway so he only missed three games all season. This is what he had to say after the game as quoted by Express & Star: "Of course you have to get together again and go again next season. Hopefully we will be back next season."

"We have great supporters, behind us all the way. We will make sure next season we will do it for them."

"I thought we played really well in the second half and deserved at least a goal."

The Verdict

It will be hard for Villa to come back from this defeat because it was a pivotal game for their future. They do have a strong team, but parts of it were held together by makeshift solutions such as loanees.

Steve Bruce is the right man to lead them forwards, though, because he built this squad and is an expert at achieving promotion, so he should be able to use the remainder of the team as a platform to build from. However, the rebuilding job may take longer than expected, so patience will be key for Villa fans.