Aston Villa are a side that are underperforming in the Championship, and you get the feeling that Steve Bruce is going to have a real battle on his hands to get his team into the top-six come the end of the season.

Optimism was high at Villa Park at the start of the campaign but after Roberto Di Matteo's dreadful start, he was quickly fired and in came former Birmingham City manager Steve Bruce to sort things out.

You've got to credit Brucey too - he's certainly helped matters down in the Midlands but he's hardly turned Villa into the rampaging promotion machine supporters expected when the season began.

Of course, with change comes the inevitability to be patient and wait for things to work out but there's real feeling that a certain number of individuals were lucky to survive the January transfer window.

So, with that in mind, here's THREE Aston Villa players that were seriously lucky to survive the January transfer window...

Alan Hutton

He's a player that's been on the Aston Villa books for a long-time now, and you quite simply get the feeling that Bruce can do better than a man who couldn't get into the side for a good couple of years under previous managers.

There are bags of young, pacy wingers in this division and to keep things tight at the back, you need a player who is up to stopping the threat.

Against Brentford, Hutton was absolutely atrocious and if we see more displays like that from him, he'll quickly be dropped back to the bench.

Libor Kozak

Czech forward Libor Kozak really hasn't had the rub of the green since his arrival in the Midlands but you've got to wonder whether he'll ever play a part in getting the club back to the Premier League.

He's been plagued by injuries throughout his entire stay at Villa Park and with plenty of new attacking options now at the club, he's not going to oust the likes of Jonathan Kodjia.

When Gabriel Agbonlahor is back infront of you in the pecking order, you know it's time to move on.

He was lucky to be withheld in January.

Micah Richards

Micah Richards was hotly tipped to leave Villa Park this January but no move ever materialised and he very much remains part of Steve Bruce's squad for the season ahead.

But with more reinforcements coming in, with the likes of James Bree now at the club, Richards' career at Villa Park is certainly over.

He's a man that would have recouped a decent transfer fee and certainly one of the bigger earners in the squad so Villa really should have cut their losses and got rid.

He's lucky to still be on the books.