No kidding! Villa rookies finding their feet – Bruce
ASTON Villa boss Steve Bruce is convinced his young claretand-blue beasts have “all the bits” to be successful at the club.
Bruce has trusted a series of rookies in his first team over the past week and it has resulted in an upturn in fortunes for Villa.
The manager has been impressed with the physicality of players such as Keinan Davis, Andre Green, Josh Onomah and James Bree, despite their tender ages.
Onomah, on loan from Tottenham, is 20, while Davis, Green and Bree are all 19.
“These days they seem to breed them at 19 built smiled Bruce.
“But you know what I mean. There’s him (Onomah), Greeny, Keinan, James Bree.
“They’re all physically developing at 19. Where are they going to be at 22, 23? As long as they keep their feet on the ground of course, then they’ve got the world at their feet.
“They’ve got all the bits. They’re strong, they’ve got pace, power, good technique.
“And, of course, the main thing now is to play proper football, as I call it, and thankfully they’re making a fist of it at the minute.”
Bruce, who has also given firstteam debuts to Mitch Clark, Jake Doyle-Hayes and Easah Suliman this season, is convinced the youngsters like... I can’t say it,” will quickly benefit from the experience of playing senior football.
He insists the competitiveness of the Championship and the Carabao Cup ties are a world away from playing Under-23 football.
“Look, Keinan and Josh found it a bit of a struggle to start with (at Bristol City last Friday), but they kept at it,” added Bruce.
“The Under-23s, no disrespect to it, is a million miles from playing at Ashton Gate with the atmosphere in the ground.
“So they can only get better. There were four or five of them (youngsters) on the pitch in the end, which is good to see.
“Josh will remember it for the goal he scored. He was a little bit fortunate, but he’s had a really good start and I think he’s going to be a good player.”
The emergence of the rookies has not been lost on their Villa elders and experienced defender Neil Taylor has been pleased by their progress.
“I think our young players been great. I have been impressed,” he said.
“I only arrived in January and I could see straight away that our young lads had the potential to make an impact with the first team.
“They are good characters and also good players who always work very hard in training. They are getting their chance and have been unbelievable in the first few weeks of the season.
“They have a great chance here and the great thing in my mind is that they have good heads on their shoulders.’’ have very