Aston Villa are one game away from a return to the Premier League after three years away from the English top flight.
In a season that looked dead in the water back in January, Dean Smith has revitalised his team and taken them back to Wembley.
The Villans will be keen to avoid a repeat of last season’s final, where Steve Bruce’s side suffered defeat at the hands of Fulham at the national stadium.
Villa will face Frank Lampard’s Derby County at Wembley, who beat Leeds in dramatic fashion to book their place in the final.
As with recent seasons, Villa have made several Summer and Winter signings this term, with several being key players on the road to Wembley, whilst some have been very lacklustre in the claret and blue of the Villa.
Here, we’ll be grading all of Villa’s signings from this season, handing out A-F grades to Villa’s recruits of the 2018/19 season.
Tammy Abraham - A
Does it even need explaining?
It’s very safe to say that without Abraham, Villa fans wouldn’t be booking their tickets for Wembley.
The striker netted an impressive 26 times for Dean Smith’s side, recovering from a lacklustre season with Swansea.
If Villa do go up, retaining Abraham has to be one of their top priorities.
Orjan Nyland - C
Nyland hasn’t had the best start to his Aston Villa career…
However, with the majority of his time at Villa so far being under Steve Bruce, his defenders have to take some of the blame for Villa’s horrible first half of the season.
John McGinn - A
An inspired signing, McGinn has quickly become one of Villa’s top stars.
McGinn’s six goals and nine assists have propelled Villa up the table, including some remarkable finishes.
Lovre Kalinic - F
Questions have to be asked as to who scouted Kalinic…
Signed for £7 million in January, Kalinic’s Villa career started badly, and just kept getting worse.
He lasted seven games before being replaced by Jed Steer, who has impressed between the sticks.
Andre Moreira - F
Put no pressure on Nyland and left the club in January. Awful.
Axel Tuanzebe - B
The Manchester United loanee has been very impressive for Villa since joining on loan again.
He began to flourish under Dean Smith and has helped Villa’s backline recover from a poor start to the season.
Anwar El-Ghazi - B
The Dutch winger has notched up five goals and six assists since joining on loan from Lille.
El-Ghazi has done well, and may be on his way to Villa permanently if the Villans reach the Premier League.
Yannick Bolasie - D
Leaving Villa to “earn his spot back at Everton” before quickly being sent to Anderlecht, Bolasie’s spell at Villa Park won’t be remembered fondly.
WIth only nine starts to his name, along with two goals and four assists, Bolasie certainly won’t go down in Villa folklore.
Kortney Hause - C
Decent loan signing from Wolves, the defender notched his only goal for the Villa so far against Nottingham Forest.
He started off poor, but has gotten a lot better and impressed many Villa fans recently.
Tom Carroll - E
Only made two appearances before returning to Swansea after picking up an injury. Did well during his two appearances though.
Tyrone Mings - A
Hugely impressive since joining on loan from Bournemouth.
With his career stagnating on the south coast, Mings has been a revelation since making the move north to the Midlands.
Mings has been a huge reason for Villa becoming more solid at the back.