Steve Bruce not blaming injuries for goalless showing against Millwall

It could have been even worse for Villa, with Sam Johnstone saving well from Jed Wallace and Lee Gregory skimming the crossbar, and Bruce had to be content with a point.

He said: "Sometimes you have to take your hat off to the opposition. If ever you want to know how difficult the Championship is you only have to look at Millwall.

"They are big, strong, physical, powerful, committed, ran a million miles and caused us all sorts of problems.

"We didn't deal with the first ball, or the second. When we had the ball we gave it away.

"All in all we will take the point and move forward because any other day it could have been one of those horrible afternoons when you lose.

"When my goalkeeper (Sam Johnstone) is the best Villa player at home then it tells you we have not done enough."

But Bruce steadfastly refused to blame the problems the lack of key players including the inspirational John Terry and last season's leading goalscorer Jonathan Kodjia.

Bruce said: "I do not want to make excuses because we have had these players out for several months.

"We have got to do better than we played against Millwall, whatever XI I pick."

Millwall, backed by their very vocal fans, battled the entire 90 minutes and created several anxious moments for a Villa defence which appeared vulnerable under pressure.

Overall the Lions were potentially more dangerous than the home side and manager Neil Harris had nothing but praise for the Lions.

"I was delighted with my players' performance from the first whistle to the last," said Harris.

"I thought we unsettled a really good Aston Villa side and quietened a passionate home crowd. I think we dominated large parts of the game and limited Villa to very few chances.

"We were creative going forward and I think we are at a stage now where I can be a little bit critical, saying 'we want more'.

"We have belief; mentality and the performance were there. I am not going to bemoan players for not scoring but if we want to take the next step and become a top-half team then we need to win these sort of games.

"Our defensive shape was excellent. We looked solid and reliable and fine on the counter-attack and I thought we deserved to win the game."

Harris was full of praise for the return of Aiden O'Brien to the Millwall side.

"Aiden had a point to prove." Harris said of the winger. "I thought his performance was excellent."