Aston Villa assistant manager Colin Calderwood is certain that his side have what it takes to negotiate the tricky Championship play-offs in a couple of week's time.

Barring a miracle, Aston Villa will be making their first ever play-off appearance and Calderwood believes they have the big game mentality to see them make a swift Premier League return.

“In the big games we have had, like Wolves and Birmingham, when the atmosphere is rare and intensified, we have done well,” Calderwood told the Express and Star. "We would obviously want to repeat that and we are capable of it. That gives us confidence and hopefully should give supporters belief.”

Although Calderwood is confident of success, he's also honest when referring to the club's failure to finish in the top two. Recently results have seen them drop away from the automatic promotion spots, with Calderwood open about the fact Villa have just fallen short.

“You look at the individual moments of the games. We maybe didn’t deserve to win any of them or take more points than we got. We are not feeling unlucky. We feel we are better than what we have produced, certainly away from home in the last six to seven weeks.”

Villa are currently four points off second with just two games to play, having already secured their top six finish.

The Verdict

It looks like a Fulham and Villa Wembley final, a winner-takes-all shoot out for a place at the top table, but football can produce strange results and I'd never back the top two play-off teams to make the final. After all, who would want to go to the Den needing a result?

That said, Villa must be favourites having lots of big game experience, especially given their recent Premier League history. It'll be a fascinating end to a really good Championship season.