No complaints Bruce hails Villa players’ stoic display during club injury crisis
STEVE Bruce has praised Villa’s players for not moaning during the club’s injury crisis. The manager was impressed with the way his squad refused to use the packed treatment room as an excuse.
Instead, even with limited options, they kicked on and won five out of six Championship matches.
Villa’s casualty list has made double figures this month, Leandro Bacuna has served suspension.
Those to pick up injuries were Scott Hogan, Jack Grealish, Henri Lansbury, Alan Hutton, Gary Gardner, Nathan Baker, Andre Green, Birkir Bjarnason and James Bree, while Gabby Agbonlahor, Ritchie De Laet and Libor Kozak were already sidelined.
Most of the players have returned to fitness and Bruce is hoping the twoweek gap between matches will aid the recoveries of those still injured.
“All credit to the ones who have played through it,” said Bruce, who called up youngsters Corey BlackettTaylor and Callum O’Hare to the senior squad to boost Villa’s numbers.
“We’ve been down to the bare bones. All credit to them, they haven’t moaned about it. We’ve got on with it. We’ve really, really dug deep to make sure we’ve got a decent run.
“We’re all just kicking ourselves to it into while a long think what might have been if we’d just had a poor January instead of a horrible one. But that’s how difficult this division is.”
Meanwhile, Villa captain James Chester has revealed the secret of his blossoming central defensive partnership with Mile Jedinak – experience.
The duo have helped Villa keep two Championship clean sheets since being paired together earlier this month.
Manager Steve Bruce took the decision to move Jedinak from midfield to defence during the match against Sheffield Wednesday.
Villa went on to win 2-0 and repeated that scoreline when the two again teamed up in last weekend’s game at Wigan Athletic.
Asked to describe their understanding, Chester said: “It’s been good. Mile is a very intelligent footballer and he can play there or in midfield. I don’t think it (changing positions) is ever going to be an issue for him.
“He has been around the game long enough to know what positions he should be in. He has shown that the last two games and we have kept two clean sheets.
“Both of us have played a lot of games. We know our way around this league and we communicate pretty well. When we do that it makes it easier.”
Jedinak has suggested his new role may very well become permanent.
He said: “We’ve had a discussion on the possibility of doing something like that and (Bruce) is very keen on the idea of it.
“I’ve been asked to have a think about it and see how I feel. It takes a bit of getting used to but I’ve got full belief and confidence in doing a job there. The similarities are quite evident ; with experience you can differentiate and know what you have to do.”