Aston Villa's Championship form has really picked up in recent weeks and under the leadership of Steve Bruce, the Midlanders are looking a much better team going into the future.

If there is a man who has been there and done it at this level, it's "Brucie", who has successfully led a number of teams out of the second tier and back into the Premier League.

On the pitch, results have been slowly picking up and a 1-1 away draw in the big Second City derby on Sunday should be considered as a very useful point indeed.

Villa were under the cosh for large parts of the game, but they rode through the pressure to give a performance that enabled them to share the spoils.

But attention is now beginning to turn to January, and the way Bruce will put his stamp on this Aston Villa side.

And in this piece, we want to assess whether there are any real targets from Manchester United that could improve this developing Aston Villa side.

So with that in mind, here's two United players Villa should be looking to poach in January...

Timothy Fosu-Mensah

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Timothy Fosu-Mensah is a youngster who gathered plenty of notoriety last season after some seriously impressive displays under former manager Louis Van Gaal.

But he's found first team opportunities a lot more difficult to come by under Jose Mourinho, who has opted to leave the 18-year-old out for most of the campaign.

This could pave the way for Villa to make a loan move for the Dutch defender, who is known for his sturdiness and solidarity at the back.

He can play as a centre half, defensive midfielder or a full back, which gives the Villains all the more reason to move for him.

Sam Johnstone

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With Pierluigi Gollini settling into life in England and understudy Mark Bunn sometimes being considered for first-team action, it would do Villa absolutely no harm to bring in another goalkeeper, and one with plenty of football league pedigree.

Step forward Sam Johnstone, who has 82 appearances to his name. He was most recently with Preston North End, but naturally, the chance to displace David De Gea at United is tough.

For furthering his development and to add more depth to this Villa side, who will still be looking to make a promotion push, this could be a move to suit both parties very nicely indeed.