It's fair to say Aston Villa underachieved last season.

They were poor after being relegated to the Championship and never even challenged for the playoffs let alone automatic promotion. That will be expected to change this coming year with a club the size of Villa and after millions of pounds has been spent since last summer and January.

Villa had an awful start to the campaign last season and never recovered with a lot of up and down results. It ended up being more a transitional season so will now look to push on in September and fight for promotion and the title.

Their squad has some of the best players in the league with Jonothan Kodjia, Scott Hogan and Conor Hourihane - who all cost a fair sum. In Steve Bruce they also have a manager who has had great success in the Championship being promoted from it four times, so should be aiming to do it once again. He has good knowledge of what is an incredibly tough league so has the capability and belief to get them up.

With their ambitious new owner, the club will continue their strong stance in the transfer window and will undoubtedly spend a lot more money this summer to make sure their squad is good enough to go for the title.

However next season is looking like it will be as tough as ever with Sunderland, Hull and Middlesborough all coming down with strong squads looking to bounce straight back. There's also Norwich, who also underachieved last season, Fulham, who will be wanting to go one further after their playoff defeat and Derby, who will look to push on with new manager Gary Rowett.

Villa have some of the best fans in the country and have stuck with their club through some hard times in recent years, so the players should be looking to fulfill their potential and reward the fans by bringing home the title next May.