Steve Bruce must prepare Aston Villa for battle

Cardiff City have recently undertaken their own managerial overhaul but for very different reasons.

Whereas Bruce has proved adept in getting teams promoted from the second tier, Neil Warnock is the archetypal survival expert. He has fought more fires than Red Adair.

And it is in the second tier that Warnock feels most at home and will relish the opportunity to give big club Villa a bloody nose and will look to make the game a real scrap at Villa Park.

Warnock has achieved seven promotions in his long career and has saved many more from the drop.

And he has already brought results to the Welsh capital after a dire start to the season which saw the Bluebirds bottom with only two wins from their first 11 games.

That record saw the axe fall on Paul Trollope and the installation of Warnock at the helm.

Warnock's six games have garnered 10 points for Cardiff – just two fewer than Villa under the stewardship of Bruce – and seen the players fighting for the cause once more.

And with Junior Hoilett and former Albion striker and one-time Villa target Rickie Lambert in the goals, they are sure to pose a threat to Bruce's unbeaten record as Villa boss tomorrow.

Last weekend's victory over Championship high-fliers Huddersfield – another former Warnock club – gave great satisfaction.

"That's more like it!" said Warnock after the win. "To me, that's what the Championship is about. I thought we were unlucky, it was closer than it should have been. I thought we should have been out in front by a few more. We played some good stuff in their half.

"Huddersfield can beat anybody on their day, but Cardiff can, too. I just think it's that kind of league this year. I think anybody can beat anybody else."

Bruce, on the other hand, has his own pleasant headache to contend with when he comes to piece together his Villa line-up after arguably their best performance of the season away at Brighton a week ago.

Only the most one-eyed Villa fans would have been disappointed with a point before the game but it shows the progress under Bruce that the claret and blue army returned from the south coast bemoaning the fact they could, and perhaps should, have returned with all three.

Nathan Baker and James Chester look a match for any Championship strikeforce at the moment but in Jonathan Kodjia, Villa have a striker who should have extended his hot-streak at The Amex.

He hit the bar with one and had another goal-bound effort tipped over. "I feel in good form. If you feel comfortable and happy, your football is good. That's the case with me," he said.

"I am happy with my form. I have scored six goals so far and I am happy with that. I want to keep scoring."