Under the stewardship of Paul Lambert, it did appear that Aston Villa were heading for the Championship following a disastrous run of form either side of Christmas.

Tim Sherwood took the reigns in February, however, and has moved the club away from the bottom three and indeed into the final of the FA Cup, where they are due to meet Arsenal on May 30.

Villa fans will want to see a lot of improvement next season, but another year of Premier League football has been secured, which must be considered a success when taking into account what type of campaign it has been.

Here, Sports Mole dissects Villa's 2014-15 campaign under two separate managers.

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August

It was not exactly a busy summer transfer window for Villa, but Philippe Senderos did arrive on a free transfer alongside Kieran Richardson, Aly Cissokho and Carlos Sanchez.

Pre-season brought a run of mixed results, but Lambert's side started the Premier League season with an impressive 1-0 victory over Stoke City. A home match against Newcastle United offered up the chance to make it six points from six, but a stubborn Magpies team managed to secure a point in a goalless draw.

Villa's League Cup journey ended before it started, meanwhile, as they lost 1-0 at home to Leyton Orient in the third round on August 27, but the month did end positively with a 2-1 win over Hull City in the league.

Lambert also secured a coup in the transfer market at the end of the month when he convinced Tom Cleverley to make the move from Manchester United on a season-long loan deal, and the England international was going to prove key in their battle against the drop.

September

Villa made it three wins from their first four league games when they recorded all three points away to Liverpool on September 13, but that would prove to be their only league victory for the next two months.

Arsenal and Chelsea both put three unanswered goals past Villa in September, but a record of three wins, one draw and two defeats from their first six league matches was far from disastrous, especially when taking into account the difficult start to the season that they incurred. Little did the supporters know, however, that it was going to get an awful lot worse before it got better.

October

There were no goals and indeed no points in the month of October. Villa started with a 2-0 home defeat to Manchester City, before they were beaten 3-0 at Everton - a match that made it four league games without a goal.

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That became five matches on October 27 when Charlie Austin scored twice in a 2-0 victory for Queens Park Rangers. November was seen as a month which included winnable games, but Villa's form was a real concern for those involved.

Christian Benteke's return was on the horizon, but there was to be frustration for the Belgian in the first game of the new month.

November

Villa suffered a sixth straight league defeat on November 2 when Tottenham Hotspur recorded a 2-1 victory at Villa Park in a match that saw Benteke given his marching orders. Lambert did manage to end the run of defeats on November 8, however, with a point at West Ham United.

Wins were becoming increasingly difficult to find, however, with a 1-1 draw at home to Southampton on November 24 doing little to ease the supporters frustrations as December approached.

Villa ended the month with a trip to Burnley, but again the points were shared in a 1-1 draw. As it stood, Villa were on a nine-match winless run in the league and the slide down the table was continuing.

December

December brought some welcome relief for Villa, with Benteke scoring his first goal of the season in a 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace at the start of the month. It got better five days later when Villa beat Leicester City 2-1 to make it back-to-back wins and ease some of the building pressure on under-fire boss Lambert.

Villa were beaten at West Bromwich Albion on December 13, but they then secured a welcome point at home to Manchester United. Their inconsistently was still a problem, however, and they lost away to Swansea City on Boxing Day.

December ended with a 0-0 draw at home to Sunderland as the pressure continued to grow on Lambert.

January

Villa made it back-to-back goalless draws in the league when they were held at home to Crystal Palace on New Year's Day, but there was some welcome relief in the FA Cup when they overcame Blackpool to move into the fourth round.

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League form was still a problem, however, and they lost back-to-back games without scoring against Leicester and Liverpool. There was to be another FA Cup victory before the end of the month though, with a 2-1 win over Bournemouth booking their spot in the next round of the competition.

Talented Spaniard Carles Gil also arrived at the club from Valencia in January, while Scott Sinclair made a loan move from Manchester City as Lambert attempted to improve his attacking options.

February

As it transpired, a disastrous start to February cost Lambert his job at Villa Park. Arsenal put five goals past Villa on February 1, before back-to-back defeats against Chelsea and Hull City brought an end to the Scot's tenure, with Villa sitting in the relegation zone.

Lambert officially lost his job on February 11 and three days later, Sherwood was in charge. The former Tottenham Hotspur manager watched from the stands as his new team booked their spot in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup with a narrow 2-1 win over Leicester City.

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Sherwood's first league game in charge ended in defeat, however, as Victor Moses scored a 93rd-minute penalty to help Stoke City collect all three points from Villa Park, before they lost 1-0 at Newcastle on February 28. At the end of February, Villa were 19th in the table.

March

Sherwood's influence started to take shape in March, however, with three straight victories bringing the supporters on-side. West Bromwich Albion and Sunderland were both beaten in the league, while Villa booked their spot in the semi-finals of the FA Cup with a 2-0 victory over West Brom, having faced the Baggies twice in four days.

Goals, which had been a problem all season, were starting to flow, with Benteke finally hitting top form. The revival was somewhat dampened when they lost 1-0 at home to Swansea City on March 21, but Sherwood had managed to steer the club out of the relegation zone with the final two months approaching.

April

April started in disappointing fashion as Villa lost 3-1 away to Manchester United in the league, before Benteke scored a hat-trick in a 3-3 draw with Queens Park Rangers just three days later.

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Benteke was again among the goals on April 11, with Sherwood going back to his old club Spurs and claiming all three points as Villa moved into 15th position and clear of the relegation zone.

Wembley was next up as Villa faced Liverpool in the semi-finals of the FA Cup and Sherwood's side booked their spot in the final with an impressive 2-1 victory in London. Benteke and Fabian Delph were both on the scoresheet and it was those two players that were proving key to the club's revival, while Jack Grealish's development was another major plus.

Villa came close to taking a point off Manchester City in their final game of April, but eventually lost out 3-2 at the Etihad after conceding in the 89th minute. That said, the performance in Manchester was a mark of their improvement.

May

May started with a 3-2 win at home to Everton, before Cleverley scored the only goal of the game against West Ham United on May 9, with that result moving Villa four points clear of the relegation zone.

Villa were brought back down to the earth on May 16 when they thumped 6-1 at Southampton, but other results meant that the club were safe from relegation, which looked to be unlikely at one stage of the season.

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As it transpired, a 1-0 defeat to Burnley on the final weekend of the campaign saw Villa finish in 17th position, but they were not in danger of going down entering their final league game of the season. Now, Sherwood must look ahead to the FA Cup final.