Aston Villa have not taken to life in the Sky Bet Championship well at all and yesterday saw the axe fall on manager Roberto Di Matteo, who had held the role for just four months.

A miserable start to the 2016/17 campaign has seen the newly relegated team win just once and the 2-0 reverse to Preston North End at the weekend saw the final nail hammered into Di Matteo’s coffin.

Villa spent an absolute fortune on players in the summer and their position near the foot of the Sky Bet Championship is simply not good enough with an upturn in fortunes urgently required.

Clearly the Villains still have several members of the squad who are not pulling their weight and the new boss could look to move out several players during January.

Football League World writer Lee Clarke takes a look at three Aston Villa players who are out of their depth.

Alan Hutton

The Scottish defender has been handed the chance to play regular football once more following an injury to Ritchie De Laet, who will miss the remainder of the campaign.

Hutton has not exactly been a fan favourite during his time at Villa Park and if the club has ambitions of playing Premier League football once more then it might be wise to replace him in the side.

The 31-year-old could probably still do a job for someone in the Championship but his form at Villa has been nothing short of abysmal, with a move likely to be on the cards in January if current form continues.

Ashley Westwood

The ex-Crewe prospect was hauled off at half-time in Saturday’s defeat at Preston North End and many fans were disappointed when he wasn’t sold during the summer.

Westwood came under fire last season with a series of abject midfield displays during the club’s relegation campaign.

The club stuck with him however but he has struggled to rediscover any sort of form during the current season and a move away from Villa Park could be beneficial for all parties.

Mark Bunn

Bunn is a relatively decent goalkeeper but is he the sort of stopper you would back to show sufficient form to aid your club towards promotion?

Bunn has been standing in for Pierluigi Gollini who is nursing an injury and whilst he is adequate enough to be a number two, he always seems to have an absolute clanger in the locker.

Villa have Jed Steer on the bench as cover for Bunn and after some impressive form on loan at Huddersfield, Villa would be wise to let the 24-year-old have a chance between the posts instead.

Aston Villa fans, do you agree that these three are out of their depth? Who else could fall into this category? Let us know in the comments below!!!