Aston Villa are struggling to pick up victories but they have the players to turn things around.
Aston Villa played out their third straight draw (and their second successive 0-0) when they faced Middlesbrough on Tuesday evening, and their fans are getting increasingly frustrated at life under manager Steve Bruce.
The Villa boss has the players to get them firing, but he needs to start picking them, and the second-half arrival of the previously overlooked Albert Adomah was a big step in the right direction.
The 29-year-old has been ignored time and again, with far less impressive wingers picked in his place, so it was telling that Bruce brought Adomah in from the cold with Villa in desperate need of a victory this week.
That did not happen, with 10-man Boro holding out for a point and Villa suffering a dismissal of their own when Henri Lansbury was sent off with 26 minutes remaining. However there were at least some positive signs, with Jonathan Kodjia coming on with 20 minutes to play and the striker’s return key for the club this season.
If Villa want to start winning they need to play Kodjia and Adomah together from the outset and Bruce will surely realise his mistake in overlooking the latter from kick-off sooner rather than later.
With Adomah’s ability out wide and Kodjia’s strength and striking nous in the box, the pair could get Villa firing again, slowly moving back up the table as a consequence.
While the forward’s early absence was unavoidable, the same cannot be said of the wide man, and it is time Bruce played his best players in their best positions and let them do their business.
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