Aston Villa have struggled with both performances and results over this past month.
Villa legend Nigel Spink warned the current squad to buck their ideas up, or risk incurring the wrath of manager Steve Bruce, who he described as a ‘grizzly bear’, when speaking to BBC West Midlands live phone-in last night.
After initially making vast improvements upon the arrival of Bruce, Villa have been inconsistent to say the least over this past month or so, with three wins, three losses and a draw in their last seven Championship outings.
They now sit in 12th position in the table, a full seven points behind sixth placed Sheffield Wednesday.
Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce
And Spink, who made 361 league appearances for the Villans, explained how the current squad is clearly not good enough to compete at the top end of the Championship, when speaking to BBC West Midlands phone-in:
“I have seen the grizzly bear in full flight, he is quite a scary man when he gets going. He wouldn’t have held back after Cardiff, the problem is as a group they are not strong enough. The midfield and wide areas are not strong enough, right-back isn’t strong enough. Bruce is fudging it a bit at the moment because it is weak. You look at the eleven that started and you wouldn’t fancy them going away to many clubs and be able to pick up points.”
Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce
Bruce’s men now face a crucial run of games, in which they will be hoping to close the gap on those above them in the promotion play-off spots.
Following their FA Cup tie with Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, Villa face a six-game spell which presents a fantastic opportunity for them to string together a run of victories.
The average league position of their next six opponents is 15.66, and Bruce will surely be targeting maximum points from those games, as his side look to kick on in 2017.
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