Steve Bruce: Promotion challenge no longer sparks fear in Aston Villa's players
Steve Bruce believes Villa’s players have finally begun to embrace the challenge of getting the club back to the Premier League but warned: “We’ve achieved nothing yet”.
A run of six wins in eight games heading into Saturday’s visit of Sheffield Wednesday has seen Villa climb into the Championship’s top five and led to growing optimism among both supporters and players.
But while encouraged by the mood and his team’s form, Bruce is determined to keep his feet firmly on the floor.
“We can’t get too carried away just because we’ve put a couple of months together,” he said.
“It’s the same as when people got carried away when things weren't so good two months ago and it was ‘off with his head’.
“We need to put eight months together, ten months together and turn the whole thing back round. But that feel-good factor, that momentum, slowly it is coming.”
Bruce previously claimed some players had struggled with the pressure of playing for a club where promotion is not just expected but demanded.
Yet he believes the cloud which shrouded Villa following relegation 18 months ago has begun to lift.
“It was maybe too big last season (the challenge),” he said. “I always say the most horrible time is after you have been relegated.
“There is a horrible, horrible atmosphere. Not just among the players and supporters but the staff who work here, the staff who work at the training ground.
“They were fighting for their jobs, there were redundancies, people losing their job. It’s a horrible place.
“You have to take it on the chin and try and move it forward. It’s difficult, especially the size of a club like this.
“I do think we are making good strides but we still have a bit to go. We are not the finished article yet by any means.
“But I think it is fair to say there has been an improvement which is the most important thing.”
He continued: “I try and keep a level head, otherwise it drives me mad. I try and keep an equilibrium.
“I don’t get too carried away when things are going well and don’t beat myself up too badly when I am up against it.
“We have done nothing yet. I believe we are turning things round. There has been an improvement but there is still a long way to go.”
