Aston Villa look set to spend another season in the Championship after a disappointing campaign this time out, and manager Steve Bruce will be under pressure to lead the club back to the Premier League.

Following relegation from the top flight, the Villans have endured an inconsistent campaign with two different bosses, and a number of poor results mean that they lie 11 points from the play-off positions with eight league fixtures still to play.

While securing a spot in the top six certainly isn’t impossible, it seems unlikely and Bruce will surely already be thinking ahead to a promotion push next term.

The Villa boss showed that he isn’t afraid to raid teams in the same division after signing Scott Hogan, Conor Hourihane and Henri Lansbury from Brentford, Barnsley and Nottingham Forest respectively during the January transfer window, and he could look to bring in more experienced players at this level come the summer.

Here are three Championship stars that Aston Villa must target at the end of the season…

Tom Cairney

The Fulham attacking midfielder has established himself as one of the best players in the Championship this season and if the London club fail to make the play-offs – they are currently one point behind sixth-placed Sheffield Wednesday – the 26-year-old will be in demand from a number of clubs.

The Scotland international has scored nine goals and picked up nine assists for his side in 35 league appearances this term, and he would certainly bring more goals to a Villa midfield that has largely struggled to find the net during the current campaign.

Jota

Like Cairney, the 25-year-old is an attacking midfielder and he has shown in 2017 what a good Championship player he is.

The Spaniard returned to Griffin Park following a year-long loan spell with La Liga side Eibar at the start of the year, and he has since gone on to score seven goals in 11 league appearances for the Bees, as well as picking up four assists.

It is a stunning run of form that saw him nominated for the Championship Player of the Month award in February, and he could find himself in demand this summer.

Christopher Schindler

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Huddersfield Town have enjoyed an outstanding season in the Championship and they won’t have given up hope that they could yet snatch an automatic promotion spot.

The Terriers currently lie six points behind second-placed Brighton, but if the Yorkshire outfit do fail to go up, then defender Schindler will certainly be one of the players that will be attracting interest from other clubs this summer.

The German centre-back has been outstanding in defence for David Wagner’s side this term, winning 126 aerial duels as well as making 241 clearances and 72 interceptions.

Do you agree, Villa fans? Let us know below.