Steve Bruce wants his players to maintain the levels seen against Cardiff City.

Aston Villa won 1-0 over the Bluebirds thanks to a stunning Jack Grealish strike late in the match.

This victory pretty much guarantees a spot in the play-offs because they are ten points clear of Middlesbrough in seventh, but the automatics are realistically too far away because Fulham are five points ahead.

Beating Cardiff gives them a big confidence boost at a key time even if it did little to affect their league standings. Momentum plays a huge part in the play-offs due to how it can have an effect on mentality and confidence. Therefore, they need to use this win to keep their run going until the end of the season.

This is what Bruce had to say about the victory in his Leeds pre-match press conference, according to the official Aston Villa site: "That's the requirements of the Championship. We have to sustain those levels."

"It's a physically enduring, marathon of a season in this league. You've got to be prepared to play five games in 13 days, like we have."

"After a gruelling winter, this is what it throws at you."

The Verdict

Bruce is a veteran at this level so he has a good understanding of what is required physically and mentally from his players if they are to achieve promotion through the play-offs.

In some ways the play-offs are harder because of the all-or-nothing nature of matches between similarly skilled opponents. Villa have the ideal manager to guide them through this stage, though. These comments were as much addressed to his players as anyone else because they have been guilty of letting their performance levels drop after a big victory such as the 3-1 loss to QPR after beating Wolves 4-1.