Aston Villa face a tough trip away to in-form Derby on Saturday as they look to build on their win over Bolton last time out.

Dean Smith's men recorded a relatively comfortable victory over the Trotters but they remain five points away from the play-offs and seven behind Saturday's opponents.

Even though we aren't at the halfway mark, Smith will be wary of letting the gap to the top six get too big, so they need to start picking up results quickly.

And, the former Brentford boss has been boosted by the return of Birkir Bjarnason as they make the trip to the East Midlands.

The Icelandic international started Smith's first game in charge, a 1-0 win over Swansea, but was on the bench for the defeat at Norwich.

He was then restored to the XI against QPR before going off after 40 minutes with an injury.

However, he is available now and here we look at the midfield trio that Smith needs to go with against Frank Lampard's side...

In reality, Smith has a decision to make between Bjarnason, Glenn Whelan and Conor Hourihane.

Whilst Hourihane is good going forward, you could question his ability to sniff out danger defensively. Whereas, Whelan will do that but lacks quality on the ball.

Therefore, Bjarnason should be recalled as he has a good balance between both and can give the side a solid platform to play, whilst also providing a defensive shield in front of the back four.

McGinn is an easy choice for Smith as he is a true box-to-box midfielder that also boasts quality on the ball.

He has a real energy and competitive edge that will also be needed against a stylish Rams midfield that Villa will need to disrupt out of possession.

Those pair should allow Grealish to flourish and enable him to stay in the final third.

The 23-year-old has been dropping deep too often recently, because he isn't getting quality service in the final third.

Bjarnason and McGinn need to feed Grealish regularly in dangerous areas as he has the ability to win Villa the game from his central position.

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