Wolves overcame a brief loss of form with a convincing 3-0 win against Leeds while Villa continued to put pressure on Cardiff, with a victory over Sunderland, after they had a similar dip in form.

Romain Saiss and Glenn Whelan have both been key players in the centre of the pitch for their respective teams.

However, Saiss' Wolves have had a much bigger impact on the Championship this season and they lead the standings by six points with Villa 10 points behind them in third.

Neither of these players are important creatively although they do pop up with the odd contribution every so often because Saiss has four goals while Whelan has a goal and an assist.

However, they are integral to the defensive structure of their respective teams because they help break up opposition attacks while also ensuring that the ball is recycled and spread to the creative players when their team regains possession.

Saiss has actually played more minutes than Whelan even though Nuno Santo likes to rotate between him and Alfred N'Diaye alongside key player Ruben Neves. This has helped keep the team fresh in a key area throughout the season because fatigue is the main danger at this time in a season.

Whelan is 34-years-old though so it's understandable that he can't maintain the intensity required through a gruelling season in such a physical league.

However, when he is on the pitch he does provide a lot of experience which can be seen in his defensive actions of 2.3 average clearances per game, 1.5 average aerial duels won per game and 1.7 average tackles won per game.

Experience is hard to put a value on because it's only in key moments where it comes into its own due to players being in tough situations previously.

However, I'd rather have Saiss because he dominates in all the key areas including pass success percentage and also has age on his side as well.

The Moroccan is part of a well-drilled unit which will help his statistics, but if he wasn't good enough then teams would be able to take advantage because he plays in an important area which could easily be exploited.

Aston Villa and Wolves fans... what are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below!