The 2016/17 campaign was frustrating for Aston Villa, who invested heavily in their squad both last summer and in January, but were unable to achieve promotion from the Sky Bet Championship and never realistically looked like challenging.

Steve Bruce is looking ahead to his first full season at Villa Park, and will aim this summer to make the changes required within his squad to challenge for promotion in 12-months time.

It has been reported that Villa will target four players this summer, including a new attacking midfielder, an area that must be strengthened, after Bruce’s side were heavily reliant on Jonathan Kodjia’s goals during last season.

One player that Bruce should look to this summer is Scunthorpe United’s Josh Morris, who has excelled in League One over the last year, helping the Irons to qualify for the play-offs.

The 25-year old scored 19 goals and added a further 17 assists for Scunthorpe, and was by far the most influential individual in League One during the 2016/17 campaign.

Kodjia scored 19-goals in the Championship for Villa last season, but the club’s next highest scorer was Jack Grealish, who found the net on just five occasions – a small figure next to Morris’ statistics.

Morris has yet to really test himself in the higher leagues, and made just a handful of appearances for Blackburn Rovers in the Premier League, during his breakthrough season back in 2010.

There would be risk to Villa chasing the signature of Morris, but the 25-year old has shown this season just how creative he can be, and should Bruce be brave and recruit the midfielder, he could be handing his side a ticket to the Premier League.