Aston Villa's hunt for a new manager continues to rumble on, yet we seem to be no nearer to knowing who will replace Steve Bruce at the club.

The former Sunderland and Hull City man was sacked a week ago after a 3-3 home draw with Preston North End at Villa Park.

Two people we now know will not be taking over at the club are Jose Mourinho's ex-assistant Rui Faria and Arsenal legend, Thierry Henry.

Henry has reportedly told the Villa board that he has no interest in the job after being approached by Monaco after they sacked Leonardo Jardim as manager. 

Faria today revealed that he was approached for the job by the club but respectfully turned it down, saying he is not quite ready to put an end to his break from football.

So who is there left to step into the role?

Here are three managers who must be considered as soon as possible...

Smith has shown during his jobs at Walsall and at Brentford that he is capable of playing terrific attacking football.

That is exactly what is needed at Villa Park at the moment. Somebody who can get the best out of the Yannick Bolasies and the Tammy Abrahams at the club.

Wilder still remains remarkably low down the list of favourites for the job.

Any club looking for a manager in the Championship and in the bottom half of the Premier League should have Wilder on their shortlist.

He has shown at Northampton and now at Sheffield United how good he is at getting the best out of his players and would go down a storm at Villa.

Much like Smith, Martinez has always played brilliant attacking football.

His defensive abilities have left a lot to be desired at times but right now Villa need somebody to get the best out of their brilliant attacking options.

If he can get a leader into his defence in January then that issue should largely solve itself.