Aston Villa are on the rise in the Sky Bet Championship and heading into the run-in, promotion is a real possibility for the division’s form side.

Dean Smith has overseen four consecutive victories prior to this week’s international break, with Villa beating Derby, Birmingham, Nottingham Forest and Middlesbrough.

They were four statement wins, with Jack Grealish the driving force behind the good form on his return from injury. The 23-year-old had missed three months of the season due to a shin injury, but he’s captaining Villa now and looks like he’s on a mission to fire them back to the Premier League.

However, it is worth remembering that Grealish came very close to departing Villa Park last summer, with Tottenham in hot pursuit of the playmaker for a number of months after Villa lost the 2017/18 play-off final.

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Financial troubles meant key sales were on the horizon, but when Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens took a majority stake in the club, Villa’s troubles seemed to lift.

In early August it became clear that the midfielder would be sticking around for at least another season, handing everyone at Villa Park a massive lift at the start of the campaign.

Now, the midfielder is proving his worth to the club again with some mesmerising performances, and with Grealish in this kind of form, promotion is a real possibility.

In our latest FLW Rewind, we take a look back on the day it became clear he was staying at Villa Park this season, looking at some fan reaction…