Aston Villa are well on course for a play-off push in the second-half of the Sky Bet Championship campaign.

The Villans look a rejuvenated unit under Dean Smith - the former Brentford boss has put smiles back on people's faces at Villa Park, winning five out of ten games in charge and going unbeaten in their last seven league outings.

After a decent run of form of late, the West Midlands side find themselves sitting three points off the playoff places, with a hugely important January transfer window looming.

It's no secret that Villa have struggled at the back this season. They have conceded 34 goals in the league, and have tried out numerous defensive pairings, so Smith will definitely be looking to strengthen that in the winter.

Here, we take a look at two players Aston Villa should try to sign in the first few days of 2019, ahead of a hectic Christmas period...

A player that Smith should be looking to seal a deal straight away is Rico Henry.

The 21-year old has recently been linked with a move to Villa Park, and is of course no stranger to Smith. The left-back was an everpresent for the 47-year old at Walsall, before he then signed for Brentford with Smith, for a reported fee of £1.5million.

On more than one occasion this season, regular left-back Neil Taylor has looked shaky and looked quite suspect in defence, so the addition of Henry would certainly provide some real competition.

Another player who has looked shaky for Villa this season is goalkeeper Orjan Nyland, so the addition of another goalkeeper certainly wouldn't go amiss in January.

The club have been linked with a move to sign Burnley's Tom Heaton, and Smith simply needs to get this one wrapped up. The three-time international has been frozen out at Turf Moor, having fallen down the pecking order behind Nick Pope and Joe Hart.

He would add real experience and stability to the Villa defence, and could prove to be a very shrewd addition.