Aston Villa get back into the thick of the Championship this weekend when they resume their fierce rivalry with Birmingham City.

Dean Smith’s men have won three of their last five matches since his appointment and have moved away from the bottom three and up to 11th in the table.

Villa are just four points off the play-off places and are looking up rather than down after their mini-revival under their new boss.

With the international breaks now over for the calendar year, it is domestic football’s time to take centre stage over the busy festive period.

The games will come thick and fast as well as final plans for the January transfer window slowly starting to take place.

So much is riding on the New Year’s window opening for Villa who have aspirations of promotion back to the Premier League.

If they are to make that dream a reality, then Smith mustn’t make any mistakes when the window opens on January 1.

With that said, here are three mistakes Aston Villa cannot afford to make in the January transfer window.

Aston Villa’s defensive issues have been an interesting arch in their campaign this term, and it has played out in front of the footballing world.

Mile Jedinak was deployed as a centre-half under Steve Bruce - an experiment that failed - with Tommy Elphick leaving on loan to Hull City.

It has been an area of concern all season long, and come January Dean Smith mustn’t make the mistake of thinking one is enough.

Villa must stoke-pile defenders of worth to sort out the problems they have had all campaign. 

Having players of worth is essential for strength in depth. 

Aston Villa have a few players that are deadwood, and Dean Smith needs to avoid hoarding them and offload them in January.

Failing to do so will mean an inflated wage bill and having had money issues in the summer, Smith will be hoping to avoid that again and work on a tighter budget.

To do so, he needs to remove the payers will not be playing any part for him for the rest of the season.

Dean Smith is a visionary; he had an eye for a player when at Brentford with their recruitment set-up.

What Aston Villa need not to do is think too small when it comes to additions in the New Year.

Thinking too small could leave them with their second or third choice players.

Instead, Villa need to be imaginative and ambitious.

The club sells itself with his history and heritage, so it is down to the hierarchy at Villa Park to ratify and sanction any deals that will be worthwhile and standout to get the fans excited ahead of potential play-off push in the New Year.