Tommy Elphick: Team must come first at Aston Villa

Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Stoke left Dean Smith’s men eight points behind the top six and though Elphick has not given up hope of closing the gap, he admits it will now require “one hell of a run” to do so.

Villa battled back for a point at the Bet365 Stadium thanks to a much improved second half performance, with Elphick confirming boss Dean Smith delivered some half-time home truths to his team.

The centre-back is one of several players out of contract at the end of the season, with Villa facing a summer of major change should they remain in the Championship.

Discussing the dressing room spirit, he said: “I think we have got it but there are different people in different situations at the moment.

“I think if we all realised that Aston Villa being in the top six is beneficial to everyone, we will start winning games.

“When things are not going right for us on the pitch, we can become a bit individual and playing on our own.

“The second half on Saturday was a real positive and a performance we have to take forward now.”

Elphick continued: “The gaffer came in at half-time and gave us a few home truths about looking like a team, being a team and being a good team-mate.

“It was an important message that he got over to us and something we’ve spoken about in recent weeks.

“The second half was a real team performance, all pushing and pulling in the right direction.

“Whether there were mistakes or something going wrong, we all reacted as a group whereas first half we were playing as individuals.

“That’s an important message and something that we need to learn from and take forward for sure.”

Albert Adomah scored for the first time in almost a year to cancel out Sam Vokes’s early strike. But Villa were denied victory by Potters goalkeeper Jack Butland, who saved from both Tammy Abraham and Tyrone Mings, and have now won just two of their last 14 Championship games.

“There are plenty of games left and points to play for but we’ve got to go on one hell of a run now to put ourselves back in the picture,” admitted Elphick.

“History tells you if you hit a certain points mark you will be there in the play-offs.

“All the time those points are there to be played for we’ve got to believe we can go on a run, win 10 in a row and get ourselves in the play-offs with a bit of momentum.

“If you can get to the mid-70s, 74 or 75, that should be enough to get you in there.

“There are 12 games left and plenty of points to play for but we need to start turning draws into wins.”