FORMER Middlesbrough winger Albert Adomah knew all about what the Riverside Stadium could conjure up in terms of an atmosphere, and he was prepared for it.

He might not have been as effective as he would have liked on his return to the place he called home for three years, yet he still contributed enough to help Aston Villa edge in front in the Championship’s play-off semi-final at the half-way stage.

But whatever involvement he had, he drew on his memories of two promotion charges on Teesside to help the Villans earn an advantage ahead of the second leg at Villa Park tomorrow night.

Even though he was reminded of the noise the Riverside can make, he was hugely impressed with the manner of Villa’s performance that left Middlesbrough frustrated.

“Being the away team is always difficult, especially in an atmosphere like that,” said Adomah.

“The home crowd were very supportive throughout, but we have so much experience in this squad and we’re able to adapt to any situation.”

It was hard to disagree, given the manner in which Middlesbrough were kept at bay, and there was no way through for Tony Pulis’ side to cancel out the 15th-minute opener courtesy of Mile Jedinak’s glancing header in front of the North Stand.

Steve Bruce’s side has not lost a single game this season after taking the lead, winning 25 and drawing just two of those, and Saturday proved no exception.

Aussie Jedinak, a former Crystal Palace player and an international, is one of those in the Villa squad of vast experience, while Adomah boasts his own, having been a key part of the business end of a Championship season a couple of times.

He was part of the Middlesbrough squads under Aitor Karanka which reached the play-off final in 2015, only to lose to Norwich City, before then playing a crucial role in Boro’s automatic promotion charge the following year.

Adomah reserved the most praise for John Terry, the former Chelsea defender who marshalled the Aston Villa performance from the back throughout the 90 minutes to leave Middlesbrough slightly disappointed with the outcome.

“He’s our skipper, he’s our leader and he’s our organiser,” said Adomah.

“In every game he’s talking to us, coaching us, helping us and leading by example.

“There are other examples in our team, like Mile and Snodgrass, there’s experience in our squad, and as a whole we’ve got a good, experienced team. That’s why we managed the occasion here at the Riverside.”

Boasting such experience means that Villa’s players are unlikely to take anything for granted, knowing how easily a slender one-goal advantage can be overturned – even if Middlesbrough will have to do it in front of a sell-out 40,000-plus Villa Park crowd.

Adomah, who was sold by Middlesbrough in the summer of 2016 following promotion, said: “We can’t think of Wembley at this moment in time.

Hopefully if we do our job in the next game then we can think about it.”