Analysis: Aston Villa finally confirm their Championship credentials with stunning Derby win

Back in early October they did so without a manager and having suffered a 2-1 defeat at Millwall much more sobering than the scoreline suggests.

Yet barely a month later, they begin the Championship’s final two-week hiatus of 2018 with an unmistakable swagger, thanks to what was comfortably their finest display of season to date and perhaps even better than that.

At the very least, Saturday’s 3-0 dismantling at Derby was the best since the 4-1 drubbing of Wolves back in March.

As to when Villa produced such a complete performance away from home, meanwhile, we are talking several years and managers.

Little wonder Dean Smith, just five games into his own tenure, wore such a broad smile walking off the pitch.

Villa’s head coach prides himself on not getting carried away, whether in victory or defeat. He knows one result does not make a season and that delivering them consistently is the real trick.

By the same token, Smith is aware afternoons like Saturday are the type to galvanise a campaign.

Previously, Villa’s place in the promotion discussion was based on reputation alone. Through 16 matches, they had done nothing on the pitch to indicate they were any better than the mid-table position currently occupied.

Saturday provided stunning proof of their potential. It was the kind of statement they needed to deliver, to their supporters, to Smith, to the rest of the Championship and perhaps even to themselves.

Villa still might sit four points adrift of the top six but a run of fixtures which a few days ago appeared daunting will now feel like an opportunity to make some serious inroads into the deficit.

Derby went into the game on a six-game unbeaten run which included impressive wins over Albion and Blues.

Yet the final scoreline did not flatter Villa, quite the opposite. Had it not been for wasteful finishing, most notably from Jonathan Kodjia and Tammy Abraham, the winning margin would have been even wider. It would be cruel, though, to criticise the strike duo too much following a victory to which every player contributed.

This was also an excellent day for Villa’s defence and in particular goalkeeper Orjan Nyland, who kept a clean sheet on the road in the Championship for the first time.

The Norway international has endured a difficult time since joining from FC Ingolstadt back in August but this was probably his most confident showing to date.

Nyland crucially denied Jack Marriott and Harry Wilson, the second with a flying save to keep out a shot which looked destined for the top corner, in the space of 30 first-half seconds with the game still goalless. Tom Lawrence also lifted a glorious chance over the bar as Villa wobbled in the minutes before half-time.

After it, they were simply dominant, with the introduction of Ahmed Elmohamady for the injured Neil Taylor helping the cause. With Derby struggling to get the ball out of their own half, Jack Grealish began to increasingly pull the strings.

Villa’s standout performer, however, was John McGinn, the Scot combining his usual non-stop running with an end product as he had a hand in all three goals.

Just as observers were beginning to wonder whether Villa would pay for their profligacy, it was McGinn who finally broke the deadlock 16 minutes from time, arriving late into the box to thunder a header beyond Scott Carson from substitute Yannick Bolasie’s cross.

Four minutes later, he turned provider, delivering the ball from which Abraham prodded home Villa’s second. McGinn was then fouled for the free-kick which Conor Hourihane swept up and over the wall and into the net to add a final, decisive point on proceedings.

Villa have now won three out of five under Smith and recorded back-to-back wins for the first time since August.

Next up, of course, is the small matter of a Second City derby with Blues, a fixture in which they are unbeaten in 12 league meetings.

Their rival’s own impressive recent form meant the first encounter of this campaign had been looking like one Villa might approach with trepidation. After Saturday, that is certainly no longer the case.