Exclusive: Lee Hendrie names the 3 Championship teams he'd like to play for right now | OneFootball

Lee Hendrie picks out three current second-tier sides that he feels he'd like to play at

Former Aston Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie has named Coventry City, Ipswich Town and Southampton as three Championship teams he'd love to play for right now.

The current EFL pundit enjoyed a lengthy career playing mostly Premier League football at Aston Villa during the late 1990s and early 2000s as a midfielder who liked to influence games with his creativity, but also make an impact defensively, too.

Therefore, in an exclusive interview with Football League World, he's chosen three sides that he feels match that in terms of free-flowing attacking football.

The first two choices seem clear and obvious, but the third may be a head-scratcher, given how Southampton have played so far this season, prior to Will Still being sacked after last weekend's defeat to Preston North End.

However, the Saints showed that they still have that creative flair when they downed QPR at Loftus Road in midweek in the first game of the post-Still era.

Therefore, despite the Saints currently operating at the opposite end of the table compared to his other two choices, he still believes that there's plenty of talent at St Mary's to play off of.

Lee Hendrie outlines three Championship teams he'd love to play for

Unsurprisingly, Hendrie has opted to choose two of the current top three highest-scoring sides in the division to play a part in, as who wouldn't want to be a major player in an attractive side?

"Coventry would be one," he said. "Obviously, with their style of play, on the front foot, scoring goals, they'd definitely be a box ticker for me.

"Other sides, I'd go Ipswich, they have good players, a good manager who, again, likes to play on the front foot and it's easy on the eye, even if it hasn't worked out as much as they would have liked so far this season."

Coventry have enjoyed a perfect start to the current campaign, going the first 12 games unbeaten and scoring a whopping 39 times in 14 outings. As for Ipswich, despite a start which has blown hot and cold, the Tractor Boys are still within touching distance of the top six, sitting three points behind with a game in hand.

Southampton, on the other hand, are perched just above the drop zone. Will Still was sacked with two wins in 13, and despite a winning start to life after the Belgian, the Saints are still sitting in the bottom six.

However, the style of play associated with the Saints in recent Championship seasons under the likes of Russell Martin and Will Still, Hendrie feels, attracts him.

"I'll go for Southampton as the other one, who have struggled this season, but play an attractive style of football that I feel would have suited my game, so they'd be the three teams I'd pick," he said.

Southampton still have time to turn this season around - a winning start post-Will Still will help

Before the season started, critics were outlining Coventry, Ipswich and Southampton as promotion hopefuls, playing fun, attractive football and getting on the front foot early and often in games.

Coventry have exceeded those expectations, Ipswich have taken their time and are looking likely to meet them, but Southampton have yet to make it out of the blocks.

It may have been a disastrous start for the Saints, but their quality has shone since, picking up their third win of the campaign away at QPR.

And with the quality of players at St Mary's and the style of play, it's unsurprising that Hendrie would have chosen Southampton as his third team — it's clear why players see the club as a top place to play.

Southampton haven't been on the right end of the result in the infancy of this season, but they still have a chance to turn things around with plenty of football left to play.

A 48-year-old Lee Hendrie may not change that, but they do have personnel akin to the former Villa man in his prime — it's now up to them to step up, and a winning start to life after Still against QPR shows signs that they might be doing just that.