Aston Villa chairman Tony Xia has once again taken to twitter to praise the club supporters who stuck by the team in troubled times.

Steve Bruce’s side ran out comfortable 3-0 winners against Sunderland last night - a club who are in real turmoil.

The Black Cats have underperformed for several years and are on the verge of a second successive relegation and whilst things never got that bad at Villa, the fans can certainly relate to the pain the Wearside supporters will be feeling.

That prompted one Villa fan to thank Xia for turning Villa around, saying the Sunderland situation ‘could easily have been Aston Villa’.

And, the chairman responded by thanking the Villa support for their patience as it took time to turn the clubs fortunes around.

Xia also added that the hoped March could be a successful month for Villa and it really is a critical time for the team.

They gear up to face local rivals Wolves on Saturday at Villa Park in what is a huge game at the top of the Championship.

The Verdict

Tony Xia has regularly interacted with Villa fans on social media and this is another example of that and they surely appreciate it.

He is clearly happy with the direction the club are going in after what was a very difficult first year in charge that didn’t bring the success he envisaged.

However, they are in a much better position now but it's all about winning promotion to the Premier League come May.

Thoughts, Villa fans? Let us know in the comments below.