Express & Star

Blog: One game away from bliss

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Aston Villa are just a game away from a cup final. Can the Villans take the club past Liverpool through the semis and into the final? Blogger Matt Turvey sits with fingers crossed.

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With Aston VIlla one step from the final - even if to suggest such a thing is enough to tempt fate - there's a sense of hope. Villa have endured another troubling season though they are likely to survive, even if it is by the slimmest of margins. Whether the club stay up by a point or a handful is largely irrelevant at this point - all that matters is that they do survive.

What matters for Villa fans just a few days from a semi-final trip is how the club can prove there is more to life than languishing at the wrong end of the table. The likes of Tom Cleverley and Scott Sinclair may well end up at Villa Park full time, and part of their decision to stay- and the wider ability to recruit a better standard of player - will revolve around how the club is marketed. Under Tim Sherwood, Villa are a different beast, an attacking force who are happy to simply "go for it" - a stark contrast to the defensive machinations of both the latter times of Paul Lambert and previous manager Alex McLeish.

Perhaps this will change over time and Sherwood will retreat into his shell, but his brashness-bordering-on-arrogance makes such a possibility seem unlikely, but it is definitely an interesting time to be a Villan - love or hate the manager, he certainly gets people talking, and Villa haven't had such a man in charge since the times of John Gregory.

Whilst drawing parallels with Gregory may be a little premature, fans must surely be happier to see more goals going in, and to see Christian Benteke scoring at a rate that proves why he was touted as a £20m+ striker when he is on form.

If Villa can keep hold of Benteke - and add some quality - there is a possibility that the club could be transformed from one looking over their shoulders to one looking up the table. Villa are still a long way off challenging at the right end of the table, but part of how you get to the top is belief and Sherwood certainly has that in spades.

Whether Villa can get to a final is far from certain, but to be one step closer to a cup final is the sort of confidence inspiring situation that could help Sherwood get over the line, and fans will have to be happy with that - even if the season overall has been bordering on tedium.

So, with just a few days to go before the Villans line up at Wembley, the mood seems different. Villa may not be safe yet, but there's far more there to suggest that optimism and positivity on the pitch is the main reason why fans are starting to feel a similar way off it.

You can follow Matt Turvey's regular opinions at his own site, Aston Villa Life at http://www.astonvillalife.com, via the site's Twitter account @astonvillalife, or via his own Twitter account @mturvey_star.