Dean Smith stood a proud man yesterday as he watched his two co-captains James Chester and Jack Grealish lift the play-off trophy which signalled that Aston Villa were back where they belong - in the Premier League.

It was the culmination of more than eight years of management for Smith, who began his journey at Walsall in League One, and he has remained true to his values ever since.

Not only is he the modicum of professionalism, he is amongst the most humble of managers in England, and to top it all off he plays football in the right way. Even at Walsall under a tight budget - he was the first man to set Will Grigg on fire back in 2012/13.

It is well publicised that Smith is a boyhood Villa fan, and after victory at Wembley he would have been forgiven for letting his emotions get the better of him, but he didn't.

There were no wild celebrations, instead he went straight to opposing manager Frank Lampard to offer his commiserations, after of course embracing his backroom staff whom he knows contributed to a promotion winning season as much as him or the likes of Jack Grealish and Tammy Abraham.

After the match also, when questioned on the proposition of coming up against Premier League managers such as Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp, he turned the attention to fellow promotion winning manager Chris Wilder.

"It was great to see Chris Wilder at there as well. We have a little bit of empathy about ourselves being supporters of the clubs we've taken to the Premier League," said Smith.

"I'm sure when I play Chris next season there'll probably be more beers drunk in the manager's room then there will be at other times."

But it's not just post-match beer that Smith will bring to the Premier League.

His teams always try to dominate the ball, that was seen at Walsall and Brentford as well as Villa Park. But he trusts his players, he grants them the freedom to express themselves on the pitch - allowing Grealish, El Ghazi and others to flourish. And in return, his players reward him with maximum effort.

Villa were the third highest scorers in the league this season, and possibly would have been higher if Smith was in charge for those first 12 games, after which Villa placed 15th with just three wins. Smith's Brentford meanwhile occupied a play-off spot.

Like Wilder, Smith remains modest despite his achievement under a mountain of pressure. It is this temperament which will surely serve him well in the Premier League.