Steve Bruce names Aston Villa’s best player from Millwall draw

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Aston Villa continued their unbeaten run in the Championship, but were some way off their best.

Steve Bruce has suggested that Sam Johnstone was Aston Villa’s best player in their goalless draw with Millwall on Saturday that left the Villans boss extremely disappointed, the Express and Star reports.

Villa are in good form in the Championship right now and find themselves inside the play-off places, having lost only twice in the league since August – and with one of those defeats coming against league leaders Wolves.

The Lions however, put plenty of pressure on that recent record as they tested Johnstone on a number of occasions, while Villa were only able to put one shot on target throughout the entire game.

And after the game ended in a goalless draw, Bruce admitted his disappointment with the display and suggested that the praise for Johnstone highlighted why it was not a performance that will live long in the memory.

“We have to play better than that. Sam Johnstone was easily our best player and had to be, but I’m really disappointed with how we played,” he said, as reported by the Express and Star.

“There’s no excuses for that. Overall, I got it wrong with my changes.”

Villa will certainly need to step up in their upcoming games as they face two of the sides currently situated inside the play-off places in their next two fixtures.

They travel to Derby – who jumped above them in the table at the weekend as they thrashed Barnsley 3-0 at Oakwell – on Saturday, and then host Sheffield United one week later.