Aston Villa welcome Fulham to Villa Park on Saturday
Sky Sports pundit Ian Holloway is backing Steve Bruce to make it seven points from a possible nine as Aston Villa manager.
Having beaten Reading in dramatic fashion on Tuesday, Villa return to their own patch buoyed as they look to secure only their second win there this season against Fulham.
And Holloway believes those positive midweek vibes will carry through to Saturday afternoon, which could be the key for Aston Villa.
“All hail king Steve!” Wrote the Sky Sports pundit in his weekly predictions column.
“Those Villa players need their fans at the moment as they are struggling with their confidence. I remember at Blackpool, the crowd stuck with us whatever the score and it played a huge part in our success.
“Fulham will be a tough nut to crack, but if Villa get the first goal, I think they’ll make it back-to-back wins.
“2-1.”
Such a result could move Bruce’s side to 14th in the standings and potentially within four points of the play-offs – despite being two points off the relegation places at present.
Villa’s new boss certainly won’t be phased by their current league position (17th), having taken bitter rivals Birmingham City up from 15th place in December 2001.
Bruce also led the Blues to promotion in 2007 and repeated the feat twice with Hull City, first in 2013 and once again earlier this year.
Fulham have bounced back from their derby defeat to Queens Park Rangers, beating Barnsley and drawing with Norwich in their last two outings.
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