Aston Villa host West Brom in the first leg of their Sky Bet Championship play-off semi-final on Saturday lunchtime in what is set to be a closely-fought Midlands derby.

When Dean Smith took over from Steve Bruce in October, he initially struggled to capture the hearts of the Villa Park faithful and it looked as though his boyhood club were edging towards a mid-table finish after their defeat to Fulham in last season's play-off final.

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By mid-March that all changed. Jack Grealish's return from a three-month lay-off coincided with a club-record 10-game winning streak that catapulted Smith's men to fifth and, subsequently, another shot at promotion.

Their opponents are local rivals West Brom who, despite miserable relegation from the Premier League last season, surpassed all expectations under Darren Moore. He was sacked in March as the promotion charge ground to something of a standstill, but the transition to being guided by caretaker boss Jimmy Shan has been seamless.

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Team news

Aston Villa report no fresh injury concerns ahead of Saturday's Championship semi-final play-off first leg against West Brom. Midfielder John McGinn should return having been rested for the final match of the regular season against champions Norwich.

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On-loan Chelsea forward Tammy Abraham, who had been carrying a shoulder problem, looks set to also be involved again along with midfielder Jack Grealish. Other than goalkeeper Orjan Nyland, who is recovering from Achilles surgery, Villa boss Dean Smith is expected to have a full squad to choose from.

West Brom will be without forward Hal Robson-Kanu, who starts a three-match ban - which means he will miss all of the play-off fixtures, including possibly the final. Robson-Kanu was shown a red card for lashing out at Derby midfielder Bradley Johnson in the closing stages of the last Championship match of the regular campaign.

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Baggies captain Chris Brunt is expected to return to the side having been left out of the squad against the Rams. Midfielder Jake Livermore remains doubtful with a bruised foot which has kept him out of the last four games, while Gareth Barry (knee) continues his rehabilitation.

The managers

Aston Villa boss Dean Smith: "I'm excited, to be honest. They're two big games against local rivals. We've got a full squad available to us and we're playing well at the moment. We're really looking forward to the challenge.

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"They're two difficult games. I know there's a lot of people out there saying we're favourites, but Albion have been above us all season. They're the ones who came down from the Premier League and have those players in their squad. We haven't beaten them this year, either.

"For me, they're the favourites and it's about us trying to spoil their party. The one at their place was a really good game. I thought we were the better team. We started well in the home game, but they scored twice and made it difficult for us to break them down. We didn't have a full squad that day, either.

"Albion will take heart in the fact we haven't beaten them. But we know results could have been different."

West Brom boss Jimmy Shan: "Everyone is aware of the magnitude of the game and our approach is to take each game in isolation. We'll formalise a game plan to maximise what we're about. Of course, we go into any game looking to try and gain the win and that's what we'll be doing on Saturday.

"Albion-Villa is a massive game, my two children speak about the rivalry between West Brom and Wolves, but I think the rivalry between West Brom and Aston Villa is equal if not even more so than that. It will be a massive occasion. Lots of West Brom fans reside in Birmingham and work with people that are Villa fans so it's a massive game.

"I addressed the players on Tuesday morning and said I was excited. There's a massive amount of excitement and it's the business end of the season now so we know where we're at and what we've got to do. There's a good focus within the camp.

"I look around the changing room and there's a good group, and a good work ethic, good appetite, great quality. If we can make sure we sync that with the experience then I think we'll be in a good place."

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Opta stats

This will be the 170th meeting between local rivals Aston Villa and West Brom in all competitions, with the Villans winning on 77 occasions (D37 L55).

West Brom are unbeaten in their last four games against Aston Villa (W2 D2), winning on each of their last two trips to Villa Park, including their most recent visit in February.

West Brom striker Jay Rodriguez has scored in three of his last four games against Aston Villa, including both matches during the 2018-19 Championship season.

Aston Villa will be making their second appearance in the Football League play-offs, reaching the Championship play-off final last season, losing 1-0 to Fulham at Wembley.

West Brom will be participating in their fourth Football League play-off campaign, securing promotion from the third tier in 1993 but losing out in both attempts in the second tier (2001 and 2007).

The team to finish in fourth place has won the second tier play-offs in two of the last five seasons (QPR in 2013-14 and Hull City in 2015-16), as many as in the previous 22 campaigns combined (Leicester City in 1993-94 and Charlton in 1997-98).

Only league winners Norwich City (93) scored more goals than West Brom (87) and Aston Villa (82) in the 2018-19 Championship season.

Aston Villa have lost just one of their last 13 league games (W10 D2), although this loss was in their last game of the Championship campaign against title winners Norwich.

West Brom striker Dwight Gayle has scored seven goals in his last seven starts, although only one of these goals has come away from the Hawthorns.

Aston Villa striker Tammy Abraham scored 25 Championship goals during the 2018-19 campaign; only Norwich's Teemu Pukki scored more (29).

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The form

Aston Villa (most recent first): LDWWWW

Last time out: Aston Villa 1-2 Norwich

West Brom: LWDWWL

Last time out: Derby 3-1 West Brom

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Prutton's prediction

I think we can safely say this is going to be a cracker! Both of these sides have known they are going to be in the play-offs for a while - in fact for West Brom it seems like they have been fourth for most of the season - and it also seemed fairly certain for a while that they would be facing each other, so they have had plenty of time to prepare.

Aston Villa are in the better form, despite dropping points in their tough two final games of the season. For both teams there is plenty of firepower in attack but I just think Dean Smith's side are the more complete team. I reckon they will win and give the Baggies a bit of a mountain to climb in the second leg.

David Prutton predicts: 2-0 (8/1 with Sky Bet)

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