Image copyright Getty Images Image caption John McGinn, Villa's player of the year last year, will miss the next three months

Aston Villa will look to reinforce manager Dean Smith's squad in January.

Villa dropped into the bottom three of the Premier League after Saturday's 3-1 home defeat by Southampton - their fourth consecutive league loss.

In addition, midfielder John McGinn fractured an ankle in that match, which is set to rule him out for three months.

Villa only gave former Brentford manager Smith a new four-year contract in November that runs to 2023.

It is understood that rather than losing faith with the 48-year-old, who is a childhood Villa fan, the club's hierarchy are keen to strengthen his squad, even though they spent £120m on new players in the summer.

Villa are looking for a mixture of permanent and loan signings.

Speaking at the weekend Smith confirmed none of Villa's current squad have clauses in their contracts that would trigger transfers if certain figures were met.

Both defender Tyrone Mings and forward Keinan Davis, who has been out for almost two months, are set to return to training and could both be available for Saturday's trip to Watford.