The Championship season is a long one for both the players and fans but there is light at the end of the tunnel with the International break now firmly at an end.
The race for promotion to the Premier League is now well and truly on with positions in the automatic sports and the play-offs still up for grabs as we inch our way into April and that means the big games are going to be coming thick and fast.
Aston Villa have rarely been out of the news since their relegation from the Premier League but there is a growing sense of optimism at the club now with the team flying high and hoping to gatecrash the promotion party.
A stunning recent run of form has seen the Villains win their last four games in the Championship and a place in the play-offs now seems to be a genuine possibility. Dean Smith finally appears to have settled into the job having joined from Brentford earlier this campaign and the good results are coming at just the right time.
Key to any promotion chances are Tammy Abraham and Jack Grealish who are in the team to provide the creativity and the goals at the top end of the pitch but there is one equally important player at the other end who is fast becoming a fans favourite.
Tyrone Mings arrived at the club on loan from Bournemouth in January to little fanfare having struggled on the south coast with injuries and a lack of form having initially been seen as one of the best young defenders in England.
Eddie Howe failed to find a place in his starting team for Mings and that saw Villa come knocking with the promise of first team football and so far it is turning out to be one of the signings of the season.
The powerful defender is still only 26 and on the face of it appears to have to all the ability to go right to the top of the game, that has certainly shown at Villa with the fans at the club already turning the defender into something of a cult hero.
The former Ipswich defender is the leader in the heart of that defence that the Championship club have desperately been searching for as they look to fight their way back to the top tier of English football.
Three clean sheets have been the backbone of the last four wins for Villa and Mings is the main reason for that upturn in form in the defensive areas. A leader both vocally and with his actions, Mings is not afraid to put his head where it hurts and whether he stays at the club or not in the future, the on loan Bournemouth star is starting to make the Villa fans believe.
He may have only arrived in January but should Aston Villa cement their place in the play-offs and ultimately return to the Premier League, Tyrone Mings might just prove to be one of the best pieces of transfer business in recent years.
