Aston Villa are contemplating hiring Steve Bruce as their new manager.

Villa sacked Roberto Di Matteo on Monday following a disastrous start to their Championship campaign which has yielded just one win in their opening 11 matches.

The Daily Mail is reporting that Bruce, who left Hull City in the summer, is on a short-list of three to replace the Italian at Villa Park alongside Huddersfield Town's David Wagner and Burnley's Sean Dyche.

However, any move for Bruce would certainly bring about some criticism from fans as the Manchester United legend managed West Midlands rivals Birmingham City from 2001 until 2007 and played for them late in his career from 1996 to 1998.

Regardless of who is on the list, Villa will being their hunt for a fifth permanent manager in 20 months following the sackings of Paul Lambert (February 2015), Tim Sherwood (October 2015), Remi Garde (March 2016) and Di Matteo.