The former captain has faith in Bruce’s ability to transform the club’s fortunes.
Former Aston Villa captain Gareth Barry has told the Birmingham Mail that Villa are starting to find their feet under Steve Bruce, and backed the manager to build a squad capable of seriously contending for promotion.
Bruce took over from Roberto di Matteo at Villa Park in October and enjoyed an encouraging start to life back in Birmingham, winning four and losing none of his first seven games in charge.
However, the honeymoon period soon ended, and between December 29 and February 25, Villa failed to win any of their 10 matches in all competitions, losing eight and earning just two points in the league.
With some genuine concern over being drawn into a relegation battle starting to emerge amongst fans, Villa put together an unexpected run of three wins and three clean sheets in a little over a week at the start of this month.
Though they lost 1-0 to Huddersfield Town last time out, Barry believes he has seen more than enough from his old side to be encouraged about their future.
The 36-year-old said, via the Birmingham Mail: “He’s started really well, obviously they had a little sticky patch but I’ve got a lot of faith in Bruce – he’s a fantastic manager.
“I think they’re finding their feet again. They had a few tough years with the relegation, it was always going to be hard.
“They just need that bit of time to settle and I believe that Steve Bruce is the right man to do that.
“He’ll eventually get a squad that’ll find its feet and from their they’ll start pushing back towards promotion.”
Villa will be hoping to get back to winning ways when they host Sheffield Wednesday at Villa Park this afternoon.
Victory against the play-off contenders could lift Villa to 12th in the table, if other results go their way.
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