Striker came off the bench to salvage victory.
Goal hero Tammy Abraham revealed he took his lead from Ollie Watkins after the stoppage time strike which earned Villa a thrilling victory over Sunderland.
From 3-1 up, Unai Emery’s men looked to have blown at least two points in their push for Champions League football as Trai Hume and Wilson Isidor both scored within a minute.
But Abraham pounced just a few seconds after Habib Diarra had been denied at the other end as Villa scrambled a win which strengthened their grip on a top-five finish.
Watkins had earlier scored twice and set up another goal for Morgan Rogers to put Villa in control before the Mackems hit back.
Abraham, who had replaced the England international off the bench in the 80th minute, told Sky Sports: "As a striker, watching Ollie today, he was staying alive in the box.
“When I came on I told myself to do the same thing. Luckily for me I was in the right place at the right time.
"We are a team that believes in ourselves. We are doing so well this season, we just have to carry on with the same confidence."
Villa will be guaranteed a top-five finish if they win two of their remaining five league matches.
Skipper John McGinn saluted Abraham, who scored for just the third time since signing from Besiktas in January.
McGinn said: "We're buzzing. We will be frustrated in there, we know we won the game but we've got high standards of ourselves as a group.
"But what a position we are in, semi-final of European competition and pole position to qualify for top-five.
“We can go and achieve what not many Aston Villa players have done for a long time. We're keen to do that and we're driven. There are five big games left to try and get ourselves over the line.
"When you see the difference of the two points big Tammy Abraham has added for us at the end, it’s huge for us.
“We knew how important this game was. It wasn't perfect but who cares at the end of the day."
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