BULLET POINTS
Won 1 drawn 3 lost 2 Pts 6.. Bruce’s record after six games is identical to Di Matteo.. who was sacked three weeks later
STEVE BRUCE is under increasing pressure at Aston Villa where his record compares to Roberto Di Matteo’s.
The Italian was axed last October after relegated Villa were languishing 19th in the Championship.
Di Matteo picked up only six points from his opening six League games and was replaced by Bruce.
But now Bruce is struggling and chairman Dr Tony Xia was furious with the club’s latest 0-0 draw at home to Brentford on Saturday.
The Chinese owner, whose parachute payments following relegation expire next summer, tweeted three unhappy emojis after the stalemate.
Villa were among the favourites for promotion this term, particularly after bringing in John Terry as the new skipper.
But Bruce admits his side is probably no longer worthy of that tag ahead of hosting bigspending Middlesbrough this evening. He said: “We were the favourites – we might not be now. Boro have got some good players, they invested heavily in the summer and they got a good win on Saturday at Bolton. It’s a good game for us.
“They have to deal with pressure because they have been in the Premier League and invested a lot of money.
“They’re going to be a decent outfit.
“We have to be much better than we were on Saturday to get anything from the game.”
Villa, still without last term’s injured top scorer Jonathan Kodjia, were booed off at both halftime and full-time against Brentford. Unlike Di Matteo, who presided over a shock League Cup loss at League Two Luton, Bruce has at least secured two EFL Cup victories.
But under-fire Bruce is demanding more creativity and attacking flair from his side in the Championship.
“It was a disappointing performance against Brentford,” he said.
“We have got to have better performances at home because the fans want to see us on the front foot more often.
“But we certainly haven’t settled on a team because we’ve just got the squad together.”