Aston Villa confirmed their place in the Championship playoff final this evening courtesy of a goalless draw with Middlesbrough at Villa Park.
Defending a 1-0 advantage from the first leg, Villa created most of the better chances on the night before being forced to survive a late onslaught from Middlesbrough.
Villa keeper Sam Johnstone was fortunate to stay on the field after handling the ball outside his area, and Stewart Downing rattled the crossbar from the resulting free kick.
Find out how all of the action unfolded courtesy of Sports Mole's minute-by-minute coverage below.
A showdown with Fulham awaits one of these teams in the richest match in football at Wembley on May 26, and it is Villa who hold the advantage following their 1-0 away victory in Saturday's first leg. Boro are by no means out of the tie, though, and it remains fascinatingly poised heading into tonight's match.
Let's start with a look at the team news...
Well, the hosts make just the one change to the starting lineup from their victorious first leg, and it is an enforced one as Ahmed Elmohamady has failed to recover in time from the muscular problem he sustained on Saturday.
Elmohamady's absence sees James Bree come in at right-back in the only switch from manager Steve Bruce as he otherwise keeps faith with the team that picked up that 1-0 win three days ago.
Nine of those goals have come for Villa since his January switch to the club, while the other 12 came in a Sunderland shirt during the first half of the season - not a bad return for a team who were struggling at the bottom of the table for so long.
Jack Grealish has also been something of a creative force for the Villans, with his assist in the first leg being his sixth since returning to the team in November. Only Snodgrass - with 12 - has supplied more in that time.
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Elsewhere, Villa will hope that Jedinak - goalscorer in the first leg - and threaten the opposition goal again, while even in defence they have dangermen, most notably the vastly-experienced John Terry.
Assombalonga is Boro's top scorer this season with 15, which is more than any player has scored for Villa alone this term, although he does still trail Grabban in the overall goalscoring charts for 2017-18.
Traore has lightning pace and can look unstoppable at times, but those performances don't arrive as frequently as they should do considering the talent he has. Even so, if he is in the mood tonight then that could be the difference between these two sides.
The Spaniard did not pass a late fitness test on Monday, having been taken off shortly after the hour mark of the first leg, although there is better news on the injury front with Rudy Gestede, who is deemed fit enough to return to the bench this evening.
Veteran Stewart Downing is one of those to keep his place in the side, and the former Liverpool and Aston Villa winger will be desperate for one more taste of the Premier League I am sure.
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Villa had previously spent 24 successive years in the top flight before their 2015-16 demotion, but they have now been in the Championship for the past two seasons - a stay they will not want to grow any longer.
However, this time around they finished fourth - a full 21 points better off than in 2016-17 - to end the season seven points behind second-placed Cardiff City and seven above tonight's opponents.
Things have been a lot better for Steve Bruce's side since then, though, and in the end they were 10 points clear of Preston North End in seventh, so they made the playoffs comfortably. Villa come into tonight's match having lost only two of their last nine Championship outings, with five wins in that time too.
That first leg also saw Villa keep their sixth clean sheet from their last nine games, winning five of those hames. Indeed, only Wolves kept more clean sheets throughout the entire course of the season, while Wolves and Cardiff were the only teams to concede fewer goals than Villa.
Indeed, Villa have only lost one of their last 15 Championship outings here at Villa Park, winning 10 and drawing four in a run which stretches back to November 4. A draw with Derby in their last outing means that another stalemate or defeat tonight would see them go two successive games without a win here for the first time this calendar year, though.
Villa picked up 49 of their 83 points here at Villa Park, and they also scored 42 goals in the process which, again, is a record only the runaway champions Wolverhampton Wanderers could better.
Steve Bruce also has a good record in the playoffs, losing just one of his last seven post-season matches as a manager with four wins and two draws.
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Attacking is not necessarily their strong point, though, particularly under the notoriously miserly manager Tony Pulis. Boro are the lowest scorers in the top six of the Championship this season, which is a trait they will need to change if they are to reach the Premier League, and certainly if they are to hold their own in the top flight.
Indeed, Middlesbrough have spent eight of the last nine years in the second tier, but they will likely feel as prepared as ever to stay up with Pulis in charge. They still have to get there, of course, put they don't come more experienced than Pulis when trying to close out a game.
Victories over fellow playing hopefuls Bristol City, Millwall and Derby helped to see Pulis's side over the line, although they come into this match having kept only two clean sheets in their last 11 Championship games.
Boro's away form will surely make Villa even bigger favourites too, with Tony Pulis's side have only won two of their last nine Championship away games. They have also only lost one of their last seven in that time too, but four of those have ended as drawers and Boro need more than that tonight.
Boro won eight, drew seven and lost eight of their away games this season, although they have not been found lacking in the goals department with their tally of 34 being the third-highest in the league and one more goal than they managed at home.
Back in the 1987-88 season Boro's side lost their first leg in the playoff semi-final against Bradford but still managed to make it through to the final, earning promotion and relegating Chelsea in the process.
Boro have picked up only five points from their 10 games against the rest of the teams in the top six, while Villa have taken 14 from their 10 outings and still only sit in mid-table of that league.
Villa are in the driving seat of this tie as it stands courtesy of that first-leg lead and their home advantage in the second leg. Middlesbrough will certainly not make things easy for their hosts, but they were poor on Saturday and Villa should have enough to run out winners.
SPORTS MOLE SAYS: Aston Villa 2-1 Middlesbrough
Boro have won at this ground too this term, with Patrick Bamford's second-half brace firing them into the fourth round of the EFL Cup in November. The Championship clash here, meanwhile, ended in a goalless draw.
Villa have, however, won the last two meetings between the sides - both by a 1-0 scoreline at the Riverside - and another win tonight would make it three on the bounce for the first time since 1996.
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ASTON VILLA STARTING XI: Johnstone; Bree, Chester, Terry, Hutton; Snodgrass, Jedinak, Hourihane, Grealish, Adomah; Grabban
MIDDLESBROUGH STARTING XI: Randolph; Shotton, Fry, Gibson, Friend; Clayton, Besic, Howson; Traore, Assombalonga, Downing
WATCH: Tremendous goal-saving challenge by George Friend!
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) May 15, 2018
Aston Villa lead Middlesbrough 1-0 on aggregate in the Championship play-off semi-final.
Watch it on Sky Sports Main Event and Football or follow it here: https://t.co/NS1UdRaxmB pic.twitter.com/ZD8M1gnpWF
It remains goalless, though, which means that Villa are still ahead on aggregate. The better chances have fallen the way of Villa, but it is hard to say that either team has been on top in a match which has been whole hearted from both teams.
James Chester has also had a decent sight of goal in the area after being found by Grabban's knockdown, but after a good first touch the Villa defender dragged his effort wide of the target.
Pulis knows that his side only need one goal to force extra time tonight, but sooner or later he will need to throw caution to the wind and go for that goal as his side haven't shown many signs of getting it so far.
WATCH: Darren Randolph keeps Boro in it, stopping Lewis Grabban's effort on the line!
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) May 15, 2018
Aston Villa lead Middlesbrough 1-0 on aggregate in the Championship play-off semi-final.
Watch it on Sky Sports Main Event and Football or follow it here: https://t.co/NS1UdRaxmB pic.twitter.com/eAS7NbaDg3
This one is enough to send them through to the Championship playoff final, though, as they beat Middlesbrough 1-0 on aggregate to set up a Wembley showdown with Fulham on May 26. There was controversy at the end when Johnstone was shown a yellow rather than a red for a handball outside the box, with Downing rattling the crossbar from the resulting free kick, but in the end Villa deserved to go through to the richest match in football.
Thank you very much for joining Sports Mole for tonight's match as Aston Villa hold on for a goalless draw which takes them through to the Championship playoff final against Fulham at Wembley. I will leave you with our match report, and be sure to stick around for reaction too.
From me, though, it is goodbye for now!