Aston Villa face Nottingham Forest away from home in the Championship tomorrow night, in a what is a must-win game for both sides, as the battle for the play-offs intensifies.

Back-to-back wins over Derby County and Birmingham City have brought Dean Smith's side to within four points of the top six, but they must improve their form away home to stand any chance of a return to the Premier League.

Villa's dramatic victory over their rivals at St Andrew's on Sunday was their first win on the road in the league since Boxing Day.

That is nowhere near good enough for a side challenging for promotion and Villa fans will be keen to see an improvement as we enter the final ten games of the Championship season.

But there is no reason why Villa can't build on their current momentum and finish the season strongly, but they have to start now.

And there is seemingly no better place to start than at Nottingham Forest - who are going well under former Villa boss Martin O'Neill having won their last five home games.

They have only lost once at home since O'Neill took charge of the club in mid-January and a victory at the City Ground for Villa against one of their play-off rivals would send a real statement of intent to the rest of the division.

Perhaps more importantly, Villa have the chance to leapfrog their opponents with a win tomorrow night and it is a great chance to keep their momentum going ahead of another crucial clash with Middlesbrough at Villa Park this weekend.

Inconsistency has been Villa's problem this season and while they cannot afford to lose to Forest tomorrow, a third consecutive win would give them a real chance of ending the season in the top six and returning to Wembley.