Aston Villa ended a three-year absence from the top flight by earning promotion from the Championship via the playoffs last season, and their first campaign back in the Premier League has been a mixed one so far.

Dean Smith's side made it to the EFL Cup final at Wembley, where they only narrowly lost to Manchester City, but their top-flight status remains in jeopardy amid the coronavirus stoppage.

Indeed, the Villans currently sit 19th in the table and would be relegated if the authorities rule that current league positions will stand should the season be cancelled.

However, if - as expected - the 2019-20 campaign is allowed to finish then Villa's survival remains in their own hands as they are only two points from safety and have played a game fewer than the teams around them in the table.

The shutdown of action could even prove to be a blessing in disguise for the Midlands outfit, having suffered five successive defeats prior to the stoppage of play.

Here, the Sports Mole team picks who they believe has been Aston Villa's best player this season.

Barney Corkhill, Editor: Jack Grealish

Jack Grealish has stood head and shoulders above the rest of his teammates this season, leading by example and coming out of the 2019-20 campaign having enhanced his reputation despite the overall struggles of his side.

John McGinn may have offered up some sort of challenge had his season not been curtailed by injury, but the stats tell the story for Grealish - the England hopeful has scored more goals, provided more assists, had more shots and completed more passes and key passes than any of his teammates. Without him, they would probably already be dead and buried in the relegation battle.

Matt Law, Football Editor: Jack Grealish

Grealish has been, by some distance, Villa's best player this season. A record of seven goals and six assists in 26 Premier League appearances for a side struggling at the wrong end of the table is an outstanding return.

The 24-year-old has shown his versatility by operating in a number of positions this season, and it is difficult to imagine Dean Smith's side keeping him this summer even if they manage to stay in the Premier League for the 2020-21 campaign.

Dan Lewis, Senior Reporter: Jack Grealish

This is one of the more straightforward picks given just how important Grealish has been to Villa's hopes of staying up.

His goals and assists speak for themselves but, more than stats alone, he is arguably the most exciting player to watch anywhere in the Premier League.

Darren Plant, Senior Reporter: Jack Grealish

During a season in which Villa have conceded 56 goals from 28 matches, the worst in the Premier League, their player of the season can only be someone who has had an influence in the final third. Having contributed seven goals and six assists from his 26 appearances, Jack Grealish has comfortably been the standout name at the West Midlands outfit

Even without taking his statistics into consideration, the 24-year-old has been an influential figure throughout the club's first campaign back in the top flight. Dean Smith's team would most likely be cut adrift at the bottom of the standings had it not been for the cult hero, who also played a leading role in helping Villa to the EFL Cup final.

Should the league resume in the coming months, Grealish will have to produce his best form to prevent his boyhood side from dropping back down to the Championship.

Ben Knapton, Reporter: Jack Grealish

There's only one winner for Aston Villa's player of the season for me, Jack Grealish. It's no wonder he's being linked with the likes of Manchester United; seven goals and six assists is a brilliant return for a team fighting relegation.

Dean Smith's side have endured a hugely underwhelming return to England's top flight, and Grealish has been the shining light in an otherwise poor Premier League season for Villa.

It would have been interesting to see how John McGinn would have fared in the second half of the season without his injury, and Tyrone Mings fully deserved his England call-up, but Grealish has been the standout performer.