This article is part of Football FanCast's Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba's haircuts to League Two relegation battles...

Aston Villa romped through the second half of the Championship season, registering a record ten straight wins on their way to stamping their name in the playoffs.

That momentum clearly carried them over the line as they defeated Midlands rivals West Brom on penalties before seeing off Derby County at Wembley.

But much of the talk over the summer was on how Villa might struggle to adapt to life in the Premier League. as shown by CEO Christian Purslow's comments:

"There will be people who don’t follow these things closely, who think we are just another promoted team, who will struggle and likely go straight back down."

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In preparation for life in the top-flight, manager Dean Smith signed a barrage of players - 12 in fact - for a total surpassing over £140m.

This sort of brash spending was almost instantly compared to that of Fulham, one of last season's unfortunate relegation victims.

The Cottagers splurged over £100m on a similar number of players, but by November, their fate was practically decided as things went downhill very quickly.

By no means has it meant that Villa are destined to fail, but there was still an air of uncertainty floating above B6 going into this season.

However, the west Midlands club, for all their similarities, are quite an exception to the dumbfounded newly promoted rule in the sense that Smith has recruited shrewdly - almost as if it was a well thought out plan rather than a last-minute trolley dash on deadline day.

Villa on Tour features in a preview of Aston Villa v Brighton in the video below...

Amongst all of the signings, there was so much familiarity.

There's Tyrone Mings and Kortney Hause, two of the club's former loan stars, then there's Ezri Konsa and Jota, who Smith has worked with before.

Marvelous Nakamba and Wesley both joined from the same club, and the likes of Matt Targett and Douglas Luiz have been involved in a Premier League setup for several years.

And even when comparing Villa's start in the top-flight to Fulham's last year, you'll soon learn that those summer claims were premature and quite naive.

By this stage, the south-west Londoners had conceded a massive 21 goals, sitting in 17th with a goal difference of -12.

They had also changed their starting XI in every single match.

Although Villa's result against Norwich City before the international break would put some gloss over this, it is still all relative to the rest of the season.

Smith's men have picked up three more points, scored four more goals and most damning of all, conceded far fewer strikes, which should stand them in good stead for their survival hopes.