Aston Villa boss Dean Smith says there is ‘everything to play for’ after seeing his side move into the play-offs with a 3-0 win over Middlesbrough on Saturday.
Goals from Anwar El Ghazi, John McGinn and Albert Adomah sealed a convincing win at Villa Park, with Villa moving into the Championship’s top six after their fourth win in succession.
Villa, beaten in last season’s play-off final, now harbour genuine hopes of promotion having sat in 12th when former Brentford boss Smith replaced the sacked Steve Bruce in October.
“It’s nice to win four games on the spin,” Smith said at his post-match press conference.
“Now we can go into the international break with a little spring in our step and knowing in the last eight games we have everything to play for now.
“We still have teams above us – like Middlesbrough who we played today – who we’re looking to catch.
“We need to keep working on that.”