Aston Villa will hope to be a Premier League side again at the end of the season, even if they have to settle for the play-offs in the coming weeks.
A stunning goal from Jack Grealish kept alive their faint hopes of finishing second, however, most fans will already be resigned to a play-off battle.
The importance of reaching the top-flight this season cannot be underestimated with Villa facing serious financial restrictions if they remain a Championship side next season after years of big spending on transfer fees and wages under Tony Xia.
Therefore, big decisions will be made this summer no matter what division Villa are in.
Here we look at three players who will leave Villa Park no matter what happens…
The striker has already played his last game for Aston Villa after a well-documented falling out with Steve Bruce last year.
A loan spell to Australia was very productive but he still couldn’t get in the team after returning.
He still has time on his contract but no future at Villa Park and will go down as a very expensive mistake.
There has been talk of releasing the player in the summer which proves that even if he doesn’t attract interest, his time us up with the club.
The big defender is out of contract in the summer and has no chance of getting a new deal, so will be off in the summer.
Samba was given a rare outing as a late substitute against Cardiff last night to deal with the aerial bombardment and may make the odd sub appearance in the run-in.
However, the fact Bruce went with Mile Jedinak ahead of the centre-back to stand-in for John Terry says it all last night.
He isn’t good enough for a top Championship side next season, let alone a Premier League outfit, so he will be moving on regardless.
The midfielder will want to move just to get a game. At 27, Lansbury should be approaching his peak but his time at Villa has not gone to plan.
Injuries haven’t helped but even now when available the midfielder can’t get a game and looks a long way off the team.
He still has something to offer at this level but will have to go elsewhere to become an important player.