With the appointment of Dean Smith as manager, Aston Villa fans will be hopeful they can still make a success of this season despite a pretty dismal opening 12 matches. 

The Villains sit in 15th in the Championship table with the shoddy form leading to Steve Bruce's dismissal after a 3-3 draw with Preston North End.

Kevin MacDonald took over the reigns for their away trip to Millwall last weekend but showed very few signs of improvement, losing 2-1.

With the calibre of players who arrived in the summer, top six will have been the minimum expectation amongst fans at the start of the season.

Tammy Abraham, Anwar El Ghazi, Yannick Bolasie and John McGinn all arrived at the club yet they are still slumped towards the bottom of the table.

It will be natural for the fans to look around at the players that got away from the club currently making a success of things elsewhere.

Here are three that they let go of too soon...

After their failure to achieve promotion in their first season back in the Championship, Villa accepted Newcastle United's offer for their highly rated defender.

Oh, how they could to with him back in their back-line now.

The 23-year-old was signed by Preston on a free transfer after being deemed surplus to requirements at Villa Park in the summer of 2016.

He is quickly becoming one of the Championship's most effective players at the moment with five goals in 12 appearances so far this season.

Villa's defence has been incredibly unreliable so far this season and could undoubtedly do with the Stevens back.

The 28-year-old was signed by Portsmouth for nothing from Villa in 2015 before signing for Sheffield United last summer.

He has become their first-choice left-back since and a picture of solidity and creativity down their left-side. Something Villa can only dream of with Neil Taylor and Alan Hutton rotating.