Aston Villa have suffered back-to-back Championship defeats for the first time under the stewardship of Steve Bruce.

The Villans were beaten 1-0 at Cardiff in their first game of 2017 back on January 2, before succumbing to a Joe Mason strike 15 minutes into their clash with Wolves last weekend.

It means that, alongside their 2-0 defeat to Tottenham in the third round of the FA Cup a few weeks ago, Villa have yet to win in 2017, and will go into their clash with Preston on Saturday knowing that they could really do with the three points if they want to get into the top six come May.

Bruce’s men are 13th in the Championship having won just eight of their 26 league matches this season, and they are currently ten points adrift of sixth place Sheffield Wednesday.

A much-improved second half of the season is needed at Villa Park if they are to stand a chance of an immediate return to the Premier League, which means that Bruce is likely going to need reinforcements in the winter window.

However, a few additions usually means that some players will have to make way to create room for the incomings, so here are TWO Villa stars who must leave the club this month…

Libor Kozak

Striker Libor Kozak has been at Aston Villa for three-and-a-half years, and in that time he has made just 22 appearances for the club.

And, with only two of them coming this season, and none under new boss Bruce, it’s time that the Czech Republic international ended his disastrous spell in the Midlands.

Apart from netting four goals in his first season at Villa Park in 2013/14, Kozak has failed to score for the Villans, with injury ruling him out of 2014 and a decent chunk of 2015.

Nonetheless, Kozak has been fit for a while now and doesn’t look remotely close to the Villa first team, so it’s in the best interest of both parties if he were to move on this month.

Gabriel Agbonlahor

It has been a turbulent few years for Aston Villa’s Gabriel Agbonlahor, and you sense that his time at Villa Park must be coming to an end in the near future.

The former England international looked set to move away in the summer following interest from Reading, yet he remained in the Midlands in a bid to force his way into Roberto di Matteo’s plans.

He didn’t and, although he has featured more under Bruce in recent times, the 30-year-old hasn’t scored or registered an assist in ten Championship appearances this season.

Agbonlahor has had his fair share of controversial moments at Villa, so it must be best for him and indeed Villa if he ended his decade-long association with the club this month.