Aston Villa have been way off the pace in this season's Championship and Steve Bruce has a big job on his hands if he's to take the club back to the Premier League next season.

In spells, Villa have more than shown their quality at this level, with striker Jonathan Kodjia being the pick of the players, single-handedly taking his team to wins this campaign.

But on other occasions the Midlanders have been pretty poor indeed and could face the same fate as the likes of Leeds United- wasting away in the second tier whilst other teams make a seriously swift return back to the Premier League.

And what was particularly clear was the performances of two players in particular during the 3-1 loss to Reading this weekend and it's Jordan Amavi and Leandro Bacuna failing to offer anything on the pitch as Villa fell to another home defeat.

So with that in mind, here's the reasons why Villa must get rid of Bacuna and Amavi this summer if they're to even think about moving forward this season...

Amavi worth £25million? Take it and run

Judging by some of the comments on Twitter after the game on Saturday, it's clear that Villa fans weren't at all impressed with the performance of supposedly £25million-rated left-back Jordan Amavi.

He struggled to keep up with the Reading attackers and offered very little going forward too.

This man is supposed to be worth £25million? Villa should take it and run, before that figure comes down.

Bacuna's time is definitely up

Leandro Bacuna works well as a typical fringe player - slotting in across many areas of the pitch when necessary.

But how he is starting games, even at this level is an absolute travesty and he was completely outclassed against many of the Reading players this weekend.

Villa need strong, committed players if they're to return to the top flight and unfortunately for Bacuna, he just doesn't fit the bill in the slightest.