Aston Villa boss Dean Smith will be delighted to have beaten his fiercest rivals in Birmingham City at the weekend, as his side made it three successive league wins to move into play-off contention. 

Villa are now eighth in the league table, and are just four points adrift of Derby who occupy the last play-off position in a hugely competitive Championship season this year.

Smith has rotated with his side in the early stages of his tenure at Villa Park, but he seems to have a more settled starting XI in recent weeks.

Aston Villa supporters will hope that Smith is the man to lead them back to the Premier League after a lengthy spell away from the top flight.

They host Nottingham Forest on Wednesday in what will be a stern test of their promotion credentials at Villa Park against a Forest side that have been in a good run of form themselves.

But could Dean Smith be tempted to add to his squad to aid their promotion run in?

Find out who they could be targeting in January here....

The Burnley striker has struggled for game time since joining the Premier League club.

Vydra has only made three starts this season which he will be bitterly disappointed with, and having scored once in those games, he will feel hard done by.

He has already proved himself in the Championship with Derby County last season, and he would be an excellent addition to have in the Villa squad alongside Tammy Abraham.

Dean Smith has a lack of cover at left-back and with Neil Taylor only recently returning to the side as they only fit player to play there, it will be a concern for the Villa boss.

He is likely to dip into the transfer market to add some much-needed depth into his defensive areas and he shoudl certainly be tracking Matt Targett as a potential option.

The left-back is yet to be given a run in the Southampton side and with Ryan Bertrand ahead of him, it seems unlikely that he will break through into the starting XI anytime soon.

Targett has experience in the Championship having represented Fulham last season as they won promotion to the Premier League.

Villa have already been linked with a move for Heaton and they seem in pole position to land his signature in January.

Current number one, Orjan Nyland, has been criticised recently for his poor start to the season with Villa, but he has since shown some glimpses of quality and has kept two clean sheets in his last three games for Dean Smith's side.

Heaton would provide good competition though and the England international would be confident of establishing himself as Dean Smith's number one choice in goal for promotion chasing Villa.