Steve Bruce played a blinder with one decision for Aston Villa on Sunday.
Aston Villa moved second in the Championship after their derby-day win over Birmingham City at Villa Park today.
Second-half goals from Albert Adomah and Conor Hourihane ensured that Steve Bruce’s side leapfrog Derby County into the second automatic promotion spot, though only a point separates both sides.
Adomah and Hourihane will naturally get the praise, while Jack Grealish was also superb, but the performance of Mile Jedinak means that Bruce pulled off something of a masterstroke.
Jedinak, a £4 million signing in 2016, hasn’t always looked like a fantastic addition, but Bruce recalled him to the first XI this afternoon and the Australian repaid that faith with an outstanding performance.
Furthermore, the Aston Villa boss dropped the in-form Birkir Bjarnason to accommodate the veteran midfielder in what was a big gamble, but one that paid off for Bruce.
The former Crystal Palace man won a whopping 16 duels – more than any other player on the field – and managed seven effective clearances, in addition to winning two of his three attempted tackles.
If Aston Villa do win promotion back to the Premier League, Jedinak will be 34 by the time their comeback season kicks off, but on the back of this performance there is still life in the old dog yet.
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