Former England defender Danny Mills has backed Aston Villa to secure a return to the Premier League when they take on Derby in the play-off final later this month.

Dean Smith's booked their place at Wembley in dramatic fashion, coming through on penalties against local rivals West Brom in the semi-final.

Meanwhile, the Rams success was equally exciting, after they came from two goals down on aggregate to beat Leeds at Elland Road thanks to a late Jack Marriott goal.

Therefore, it promises to be a great final but Mills told Football Insider that Villa have one key quality that will help them on the day - experience.

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"On the balance of play, I would make Villa the favourites. They have experience, they have been there before and have an experienced coaching staff, including John Terry who was there last year, which helps.

"But Derby have a young side with some talented players and sometimes there is a brilliant naivety about players who haven’t experienced big-match disappointments."

Villa will also take confidence from the fact they beat Frank Lampard's side twice in the regular season.

The Verdict

There's no doubt that Villa will start as favourites and Mills' comments about experience will be a reason for that.

They head into the game in good form over the past few months and have beaten Derby, so there will certainly be nothing to fear from their perspective.

However, we've seen time and time again how unpredictable the Championship is and in a one-off fixture, the Rams have more than enough talent to win.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.