Aston Villa have had an incredible upturn in form since the arrival of Dean Smith as the club’s manager back in October.

The Championship side were down in 15th when Steve Bruce was sacked and replaced with the former Brentford manager.

Three wins and six draws had given the Villans 15 points in 12 matches before a change at the top.

Five wins, two draws and just two defeats has been their record since the arrive of Smith with the club now up to eighth place and only four points off the playoff spots.

The Christmas period will be a test of his squad as they look to go one better after last year’s playoff final defeat.

It has been an exciting two months at Villa since the incoming of Smith, and the good times look set to continue.

But what have we learnt about the manager since being at the helm of the Midlands outfit?

Well, here we take a look at three things we have discovered about Smith since he arrived at Villa Park.

Dean Smith has moved to having a 4-4-1-1 formation and has put the emphasis on attacking football.

They have scored 21 goals nine league games since his arrival one more than they did under Steve Bruce this year.

But they play a fluid, expansive style of play – and that was one thing that the fans felt was lacking under their former boss.

There were calls for Orjan Nyland to be dropped under Steve Bruce and even when Dean Smith arrived – but he has stayed loyal to the goalkeeper – amongst other players.

And being loyal and naming a consistent side has reaped the rewards for the manager since his arrival.

He has kept the same group of players in the side, and he is being rewarded with improvement week-on-week and consistently high-level of performances both collectively and individually.

Everyone seemed to think Jack Grealish was a central midfielder that liked to get forward.

So instead of keeping him in the middle, Dean Smith moved the 23-year-old forward into a new position behind the striker – and that inventiveness is paying dividends.

Not only with Grealish but with Alan Hutton too, moving over to right back and bringing back in Neil Taylor has reinvented a player who was going stale at Villa Park.

Everything Smith has touched has turned to gold so far since his time at Aston Villa began.