Aston Villa have some promising academy players coming through that could make an appearance next season.

Steve Bruce has traditionally preferred experienced players in his starting XI due to the reduced likelihood of mistakes especially in defensive areas, which is supported by the high average age of his defence.

However, he is willing to trust youngsters if they have the quality with Jack Grealish and Keinan Davis being examples of that this season.

Therefore, there is a chance for some players to make their way into the first-team even if there isn't an easy and clear pathway like at some other clubs.

Some of the players mentioned have already made their debuts with limited minutes, but that doesn't count as significant gametime and is highly likely to be based on other factors.

Here are three players that could make the leap into the first-team:

Suliman has mainly been restricted to showing his potential with the English youth sides and the Aston Villa academy sides. In the summer, he won the European Championship with the England Under-19s and started every game.

He was loaned out to Cheltenham last season and has been limited to one first-time appearance in the Carabao Cup for Villa this season before being loaned to Grimsby in January.

There is a chance for him to work his way into the first-team because John Terry could leave in the summer and they lack a young centre-back option. Chris Samba is 34-years-old while James Chester is 29-years-old, so Suliman could be mentored into the role by these experienced players, and add some pace to the backline.

Doyle-Hayes is another player limited to Carabao Cup appearances for the first-team, but he wasn't sent out on loan so a chance in the first-team in the league could be around the corner.

He has mostly been limited to the under-23s where he has impressed significantly. The fact that he signed a three-year contract in September 2017 suggests that he is in Bruce's future plans.

His range of passing has been pointed out as one of his strengths and he could be used in a double pivot in front of the defence alongside a more experienced player to give him some experience of the level that is required in the Championship as well as testing whether he is at that standard yet.

Hepburn-Murphy is closer to breaking into the first-team than the other two because he has made five appearances in the league with three coming this season. He didn't really impress in those chances, but they only add up to a total of 59 minutes played.

The major issue for him is his injury-prone nature which has delayed his route into the first-team on multiple occasions, but there is clear talent so he just needs to find a way past that.

Fellow striker Keinan Davis has worked his way into the first-team even though there is a lot of competition, so the pathway is there for Hepburn-Murphy. Although Gabriel Agbonlahor and Lewis Grabban will move in the summer, so he has a good opportunity to prove to Bruce that he is a capable striking alternative.