Steve Bruce admits he is still to settle on his best Aston Villa XI

Follow us on Google Discover

The new Villa boss has picked a total of 18 different starters over his first three games in charge of the club.

Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce has admitted to The Goalzone that he is still trying to figure out his best XI ahead of Sunday’s derby at Birmingham City.

Bruce has changed his starting line-up in all three games since replacing Roberto Di Matteo as Villa boss earlier this month, picking a total of 18 different players in the process.

Some of those changes have been forced, with Alan Hutton and Nathan Baker replacing injured duo Micah Richards and Tommy Elphick on the backline, but the likes of Gary Gardner and Leandro Bacuna have made strong cases for regular places in the side after being given a chance to impress.

Along with Baker, both players produced solid displays in the 2-1 victory at Reading and the subsequent 1-0 home win over Fulham, while Jordan Amavi and Jordan Ayew also showed after being brought into the line-up last weekend why so many supporters believe they should be two of the first names on the teamsheet.

After opening his reign with a difficult 1-1 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers, the changes Bruce has made over the last two games certainly seem to have the desired effect and the former Birmingham boss admits that he now has some tough selection decisions to make for both his return to St Andrew’s and beyond.

Asked whether he has settled on his best team, Bruce told reporter Tom Ross: “I have to be honest, no, because there are four or five players that I still haven’t seen. Baker for example has come into the team and played very, very well. Gardner’s come into the team and played very well, and so has Bacuna.

“Those three in particular are ones that I didn’t think from the offset I’d be using, but they’ve forced their way into the team and they’re now in charge of the jersey. It’s up to them like the other seven or eight to keep their place now.”

Bruce will still be without captain Elphick and fellow defender Richards for Sunday’s Second City derby as they continue to recover from their respective injuries, but there could be a spot in the line-up for Albert Adomah.

The Ghanaian winger was only fit enough to make the bench for the Fulham game after picking up a knock against Reading, but he came on to set up Jonathan Kodjia’s 80^th-minute winner and has since been back in full training.

“It’s too early for Tommy Elphick and Micah Richards,” Bruce said at his pre-match press conference. “But Albert Adomah is fine. He will be in the squad.”