Aston Villa will still be ‘there or thereabouts’ in the race for promotion in the Championship this season, according to Stephen Warnock.

After last season's play-off final appearance, Steve Bruce started the campaign in the dugout at Villa Park, but oversaw a poor start, with Smith tasked with turning things around at Villa Park after arriving in October.

Initially things were looking up for the men in claret and blue, but since a frustrating December, things haven’t gone well for Villa, who have fallen away in the race for the play-offs and sit in mid-table.

Smith’s side have won just one in eight league fixtures and drew 2-2 with Hull City on Saturday afternoon.

However, Warnock believes his former club will still be in the mix for promotion at the end of the season, highlighting that there is still a lot of game still to be played.

“I still think that they’ll be there or thereabouts, there’s a lot of games to play,” Warnock exclusively told FLW on Saturday.

“Teams in and around them are going to drop points as well, so they’ll come good. “

The coming weeks offer Villa a good opportunity to bounce back, with Smith’s side going up against Ipswich Town and Reading, two clubs fighting at the wrong end of the Championship table.

However, another testing run is then on the horizon, with Villa facing Sheffield United, Brentford, West Brom and Stoke over the course of February.

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