Steve Bruce gives explanation for Aston Villa’s below par performances

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Villa may not have swept aside opponents but they’re nabbing three points on a regular basis.

Aston Villa boss Steve Bruce has attributed the club’s stop-start performances to huge changes within the club in recent seasons, the Birmingham Mail reports.

Ross McCormack’s third league goal in Villa colours proved enough to secure an edgy 2-1 win against Burton Albion on Boxing Day after Jamie Ward had cancelled out Leandro Bacuna’s early opener.

The win means Villa remain just six points shy of Sheffield Wednesday in the final play-off position, a vast improvement from their lowly status near the bottom three when Bruce took over from Roberto Di Matteo in October.

However, many fans have expressed their dissatisfaction with a number of below par performances regardless of the fact that Bruce is encouraging what so many before him failed to instil – the ability to grind out results.

And the manager says the rapid turnover of players in recent seasons, plus the effect last season’s pitiful relegation had on morale and confidence, has been a major factor in Villa’s apparent inability to back up results with performances.

“We’re trying to breathe a bit of life into them,” Bruce told the Birmingham Mail. “It’s been difficult after what’s gone on here [the relegation].

“Then they’ve got off to an awful start [this season, winning just one of their first 12 Championship games]. So that seeps and ebbs away at the confidence of the ones who remained here.

“Of course the other lads are trying to adjust so there’s been big changes at the club. Big changes in the summer, in the summer before, all the time.

“With that then it becomes uncertainty but I think our football will get better.”

Some Villa fans would do well to remember the shameful performances of last season, completely devoid of effort of commitment, and take some semblance of pride in the spirit and grit displayed by the current crop.

After all, the Championship is a league that often rewards character over quality.