Steve Bruce: Aston Villa put at 'huge disadvantage' by international break
Boss Steve Bruce believes fixture scheduling and the international break have combined to put Villa at a "huge disadvantage" ahead of Friday's trip to Brighton.
A host of key players have been away during the past fortnight with Jordan Ayew, Jonathan Kodjia and Mile Jedinak only returning to Bodymoor Heath on Thursday morning, just hours before the squad then departed for the south coast.
Preparations have been further hampered, meanwhile, by the decision to bring a game Bruce believes will provide his team with the toughest test of the season forward 24 hours for TV coverage.
Bruce said: "It's a huge disadvantage to us, we know that.
"Usually after an international break it's nice to have a home game because the last thing you want to do now if you're a Jedinak, or Kodjia, or Ayew, is getting on a bus and start travelling again when you've already been travelling for the best part of 24 hours.
"What can I do about it? I can shout from the rooftops but nothing will change. I just have to try to pick the best team and make sure we're not fatigued."
Kodjia, who played for the Ivory Coast in France on Tuesday night and is expected to start tonight, though Jedinak will be assessed having travelled back from the Far East, where he played in Australia's 2-2 draw with Thailand.
In total, six of the team which started the 2-1 win over Blackburn last time out have been away on international duty.
And Bruce added: "It's the preparations, for me, that's more of a concern because we haven't been able to do any.
"The only thing we've worked on is how we're going to play and what we're going to do
"We haven't done anything for two weeks so I've had to remind them again on Thursday morning. Obviously, it's difficult the day before a game."
Jedinak, who had initially been given no chance of playing by his manager, has hinted he will be ready to feature though Bruce remains unlikely to take any undue risks if he believes players are tired.
He continued: "Take away football for a moment, all of us have been on flights and you're jet-lagged and you've tried to sleep going through time barriers
"The only thing it does leave you is extremely tired and if you play football when you're extremely tired, it is dangerous.
"It's dangerous because you could pick up an injury. If you play fatigued you're in trouble.
"But the one thing about it is these lads are used to it.
"Jedinak has had four trips already in three or four months. He's become accustomed to it."
