They host their local rivals at The Hawthorns on Tuesday also without suspended 24-goal striker Gayle after his late red card at Villa Park.

But, after Liverpool and Tottenham's improbable Champions League semi-final comebacks against Barcelona and Ajax last week, Shan knows the Baggies can recover.

He said: "Those two games were teams that were out of sight. We're only a goal behind.

"There are lots of positives that we can take and build into the game on Tuesday evening and that's what we will do.

"The boys are very positive that we can be a bit more creative and positive at times and we need to take the game to Aston Villa.

"That's what they did for the first 15 minutes against us and we weathered the storm because the momentum and atmosphere in the crowd were very good.

"That's the approach we need on Tuesday."

Villa won a club record 10 straight games in their final 12 outings to leap into the play-offs.

They are favourites going into Tuesday's clash, having drawn 2-2 at The Hawthorns earlier in the season.

But boss Dean Smith has warned them not to take victory for granted.

He said: "The players will know from me and the staff that nothing is over. We've got to go there and put in a really good performance.

"I didn't feel it was a good performance on Saturday. I feel there were a few players who performed below their normal standards. If we play to our normal standards we'll be a right threat.

"Our mindset for the last 14 games has been to go into it and try to win. We've been very good at that, and we're getting used to winning too, which is important."

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