We are only a few weeks into 2019, but things change quickly in football, and we have already learned a few things about Aston Villa.

The Villa appointed Dean Smith at the tail end of 2018, and he has enjoyed an indifferent run of form in his early weeks at Villa.

2019 has been poor for Villa, with a couple of defeats already. You could put it down to bad luck, but scratching beneath the surface, there are a few lessons to be learnt of Villa already this calendar year.

Last Saturday's 3-0 defeat at the hands of Wigan will have disappointed Villa, who were favourites to win pre-match.

At the club, there seems to be a never-ending cycle of fans thinking they can make the play-offs after a good performance, but then the club fails to capitalise and as a result, the chances of promotion decrease.

Here, we look at THREE things we’ve clearly learnt about Aston Villa so far this year.

Do you agree, Villa fans, or can you think of something we have missed? Let us know in the comments section below.

They are resolute

The Tammy Abraham saga could have effectively ended Villa’s chances of promotion if it went the wrong way - the club could have easily lost their star striker to the Premier League and they would have struggled to replace his goals.

The fact that Abraham chose to stay at Villa Park is complementary to Smith and Villa, who have shown they are attractive for players, which can only bode well for the remainder of the year.

The defence still needs work

With the 3-0 defeat at Wigan adding to the 3-0 defeat in the FA Cup - one thing is extremely obvious: the defence needs work.

Villa have one of the worst defences in the league, statistically, and despite many saying John Terry’s new role could help mentor the defenders, it is not working yet.

Smith has now been here three months, and he will have to start improving the defence otherwise fans will start to get on his back.

Dean Smith needs signings

It has become obvious this month that Dean Smith needs a few more additions to his squad, all over the pitch really. The defence in particular needs fixing, with Lovre Kalinic already fixing the goalkeeper situation.

It is often said it takes a good two or three transfer windows to fix or build a squad, and Dean Smith will hope he can get that, but he will be hoping to add one or two more players this month.