SHEFF SPECIAL PILES PRESSURE ON BRUCE

NEW Villa chief executive Christian Purslow saw Steve Bruce’s side cut to ribbons by Chris Wilder’s blood-thirsty Blades.

Even though it was Villa’s first Championship defeat of the season the manner of it will heap pressure on Bruce.

He has been around the block enough times to know that after an expensive foray into the loan market and the club in the hands of new owners, no let-up in the quest to return to the Premier League will be tolerated.

Bruce said: “One or two players turned it into a circus act. What we served up bordered on embarrassment in the first half. At least it can’t get any worse.

“We’re a big club and everyone wants to kick our ass and we’ve had it really kicked today. I know the consequences and the buck stops at me.”

Neither Tammy Abraham nor Yannick Bolasie, on season-long loans from Chelsea and Everton respectively, featured for Villa. It was another loanee, Ollie Norwood who ran the show. The on-loan Brighton midfielder who helped Fulham to promotion last season aims to do the same at his new temporary home of Bramall Lane. He scored and made one.

It was not just Mile Jedinak’s number which went missing in a fast and furious start.

The Aussie was pressed into service alongside James Chester – without a number on the back of his shirt.

He was partly to blame as Wilder’s side stunned Villa with two early goals.

First there was no response from the defence when Jack O’Connell powered in a header, then Mark Duffy was afforded space and time to explode a low finish from outside the box. Bruce read the riot act at half-time as the home side made it 3-0 five minutes before the break through Norwood.

No wonder the Blades tannoy announcer chirped: “Unfortunately we’ve only got two minutes’ added time.”

But he walked into a rocket from Wilder who said: “I’ll deal with that.

“We are a humble club and that won’t happen again. I have apologised to the people of Aston Villa.”

The evergreen Billy Sharp scored a fourth before Anwar El Ghazi’s strike on the hour provided a crumb of consolation.