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Aston Villa have been transformed from the laughing stock of the Premier League to the team that no opponent wants to face.

There was a time earlier this season when the claret and blues looked doomed as their humiliating woes in front of goal were mocked by the rest of the country.

One national newspaper even nicknamed them ‘Aston Nilla’ as their record of 12 goals in 25 games saw the former top-six contenders languishing in the bottom three.

The club was in a sorry state and Tim Sherwood was tasked with restoring normal service when he was appointed in February.

What he has done since then is nothing short of remarkable.

Can you spot yourself in the Villa Park crowd against West Ham?

Villa went to White Hart Lane and outplayed Tottenham in the recent 1-0 win.

Then they saw off Liverpool in the FA Cup semi-final before becoming the first team to dominate possession at the Eithad against Manchester City for years.

“We’d have been safe now if it wasn’t for that disallowed goal,” said Sherwood in reference to Christian Benteke’s wrongly ruled-out strike in the 3-2 defeat against the 2013/14 champions.

The Villa boss is right - his team would be guaranteed their Premier League status if that goal had stood, but only a freak set of results will see them finish in the bottom three now.

Recent wins over Everton - a team who were in fine form before they visited Villa Park, and West Ham - a team who can’t buy a goal, have fired them four points clear of the drop zone with two games to play.

Southampton are the next opponents and they will not fancy their chances next week either.

They system that Villa are playing right now makes them so lethal on the attack.

Jack Grealish is thriving at the top of the diamond and the way he is able to find space and drag defenders out of position is a joy to watch.

Tom Cleverley and Fabian Delph look a threat every time they get the ball and with wing-backs Kieran Richardson and Leandro Bacuna bombing forward there is no shortage of creativity.

Gabby Agbonlahor is now fit which will give Sherwood a selection dilemma going forward and also add to the list of problems that Southampton will need to note down.

The bookies might as well add another zero to their current odds of 75/1 for Villa to go down because it simply isn’t going to happen.

The only question now is whether this side are good enough to make history and win the FA Cup.