Alan McInally: Steve Bruce is the right man for Aston Villa

An underwhelming start to the campaign has found Villa playing catch-up on the Championship’s early pacesetters, while Bruce even fielded questions over his future during a testing opening month.

Former striker McInally, part of the last Villa team to win promotion from the second tier in 1988, is convinced the 56-year-old will get the club back on track if given time.

He told the Express & Star: “I still think Steve Bruce is in exactly the right place at the right time. He has a good track record and I think they should let him run with it.

“He has the mentality to handle the job. The players have to do the same thing.

“That is where you have to give Steve the respect. I think he knows what he has to do but it’s not a quick fix.

“It’s a fact of modern day living is everyone wants something straight away. Our threshold levels of patience aren’t the same.

“Football is not like that. There are 46 games and it is a long process. Nothing gets fixed overnight, not at a club as big as Villa.”

Bruce has admitted some members of Villa’s squad have struggled to deal with the pressure of playing for a club where promotion is demanded.

McInally, who also played for Celtic and Bayern Munich, believes players must adopt a “bloody-minded” approach if they are to be successful.

He added: “Villa are still one of the biggest scalps in the Championship and that is something players have to deal with.

“You might have the potential to be a good player but whether you have the potential to play for a big club is a different thing.

“If you don’t have that mentality you are not going to be a top player. I have played with players who were brilliant Monday to Friday but couldn’t do it on a Saturday

.”