Aston Villa fans have every reason to be dreaming of a return to the Premier League, with Dean Smith seemingly already finding his feet at his boyhood club. 

Villa are currently 8th in the Championship table and are on an impressive unbeaten run which has seen Dean Smith nominated for Manager of the month for November.

They are looking like the team to beat, and the Villa boss will be keen for his side to take their good form into the festive set of fixtures, where we will see how Villa match up against their promotion rivals.

The likes of John McGinn and James Chester have been in excellent form this season for Smith's side and they will certainly be confident of taking the step up to the Premier League if Villa are to win promotion.

But there are a number of regular starters in Smith's squad that wouldn't be good enough to take the step up to the top-flight.

Find out who those players are here....

Hutton might be a fans favourite at Villa Park after his incredible solo goal against local rivals, Birmingham City but he has struggled at times during this season.

The Scotsman was also part of the Villa side that were convincingly relegated from the Premier League in 2016, and he wouldn't be a good enough first-choice option to have at right-back for Dean Smith's side.

Nyland has really struggled to adapt to life in the Championship, and has come under intense scrutiny in recent weeks.

But Dean Smith seems to be reluctant to replace him in the starting XI, and if Nyland can't perform to a consistently high standard in the Championship, then there is no way he will be good enough for Villa in the Premier League if they win promotion this season.

The Egyptian has made 18 appearances in total for Aston Villa this season and will be a crucial member of Dean Smith's squad if they are to mount a serious challenge for promotion.

But El-Mohamady has a considerable amount of attacking traits to his name which can sometimes go against him.

If Villa started him in the Premier League they would be caught on the counter-attack far too easily and Dean Smith should be exploring a better defensive option at left-back.