Aston Villa boss Dean Smith would have hoped for a better start to life at his boyhood club, with his side suffering disappointing back-to-back defeats last week. 

Villa were narrowly beaten 1-0 at Loftus Road by Steve McClaren's QPR on Friday evening, which saw Smith's side slip to 17th in the league table, and with the gap slowly be increased between themselves and the play-off positions, Smith will be hoping his side can turn around this poor run of form.

Since Smith took over, Villa have won once and lost twice and his side's away form will be a concern, with only one away win which occurred on the opening day of the season.

They face Bolton Wanderers on Friday and it's a game where Villa will be expected to pick up three points as they look to end this poor run of form.

But what signings should Dean Smith make in order to fire his side up the table and challenging for a play-off spot?

Find out who they should consider bringing in here.....

The Southampton left-back spent time on loan at Fulham last season and made 17 starts for the side that won promotion to the Premier League.

The 23-year-old has only made one start this season though for the Premier League side and he will certainly be in search of regular game time, in which he currently isn't getting at the Saints.

Targett would be an excellent addition to the Villa side and would add depth into their defence which has struggled in recent matches this season.

The 32-year-old has struggled to force his way into the starting XI since returning from injury.

With the impressive from shown by both Nick Pope and Joe Hart, it is unlikely that Heaton will be making an appearance anytime soon.

Heaton made 35 appearances and kept 10 clean sheets during the 2016/2017 season for Burnley and would be an ideal addition to Dean Smith's squad this season with Orjan Nyland struggling for form in the Championship since making the move in the summer.