‘PLAY-OFFS? LET’S FOCUS ON DERBY...’
STEVE Bruce could be forgiven for suppressing a fearful shudder when the Sheffield United bus bowls into Hillsborough tomorrow night. Five months ago, Bruce took his Aston Villa side to Bramall Lane in a match billed as a must-win for the under-fire 58-year-old. They lost, 4-1. It was a savage beating, humiliating and deserved. If anything, the scoreline flattered Villa. Supporters, already restless, turned as one. Bruce, a former Blades boss, was forced to endure chants of ‘sacked in the morning’ from all four sides of the ground. He survived, but it was the beginning of the end. A month later, a flying cabbage signalled the termination of his two-year tenure at Villa Park. Many wondered if he would work again, not least Bruce himself. Yet here he is, manager of a Sheffield Wednesday side unbeaten in seven, sixth in the form table and - in Bruce’s words - still ‘dreaming’ of a playoff place. “He has instilled a new life, a new energy,” said skipper Adam Reach. “He’s got everyone believing how good we are again. We have gone back to basics, working hard, and when you do that collectively you should come through in the end. I think that’s what we are doing.” Come through tomorrow and Wednesday who began the weekend six points shy of sixthplaced Bristol City - will be on the fringes of the top six. And perhaps a pivotal match against Sheffield United will be remembered not as Bruce’s bleakest nadir but as the moment he roused a sleeping giant. “It’s going to take an almighty effort but you can’t give up that hope,” said Bruce, who officially took charge at the end of January and hasn’t lost a game since. “Can we win five or six from the next eight and give ourselves a chance? Why not? “But first things first. This is a derby game and derby games are about one thing: getting the result and the win for your supporters.”