Former Aston Villa assistant manager Roy Keane believes the West Midlands club now need to prove they can cope with the demands of success after beating Cardiff City 2-0 in the FA Cup fifth round on Friday night.
Villa went into the tie favourites and certainly lived up to that billing in the first half as they created numerous chances.
Marcus Rashford and Ollie Watkins were both guilty of squandering good opportunities as the Welsh club held out until the half-time break.
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Unai Emery's men continued to press for an opener, which finally came in the 68th minute as Rashford's cutback was fired in by Marco Asensio just moments after the Bluebirds had their first shot on target.
Asensio bagged his second of the match with ten minutes remaining to safely book Villa's place in the hat for the quarter-finals.
After this victory, Villa now find themselves competing on three fronts as they head into a hectic March period.
The first leg of their Champions League knockout against Club Brugge is on Tuesday, while there is still hope for Villa to qualify for Europe next season through the Premier League.
By the end of the month, they will return to the FA Cup against an, at this stage, unknown opponent and Keane believes this is the time for Villa to prove they have what it takes to continue competing despite a packed schedule.
"Also this is where pressure builds now, we saw Villa can cope with the demands, they’ve had their stuggles away from home, but if they get another home draw," he told ITV Sport.
"The manager can deal with it obviously.
"He’s got a group of players now the challenge is for them to deal with the demands and a chaotic few months ahead.
"But for Villa fans and for the players, it’s very, very exciting."
Ian Wright added that had Villa not had injuries to contend with, they could be pushing even higher up the table this season.
"You have to give them credit because they’ve had a few injuries; Pau Torres, Tyrone Mings, Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa, they’ve all been out," the former Arsenal striker concluded.
"You’d like to think that if they had that defensive unit with this new exciting forward line you’d have to think that he’d be a lot more happy about that.
"Champions League, FA Cup, Premier League…"
