Steve Bruce willing to make changes as Aston Villa eye run-in
Steve Bruce insists he won’t hesitate to make changes during Villa’s hectic run – after admitting last month’s defeat to QPR still haunts him.
Villa head to Norwich tomorrow for the third of five fixtures in the space of 14 pivotal days, aiming to build on Tuesday’s 3-0 win over Reading which kept alive their slim hopes of automatic promotion.
Bruce made five changes and watched his team deliver their brightest performance since the 4-1 dismantling of Wolves.
That memorable victory was followed by the loss to QPR, when Bruce opted to keep the same starting XI, beginning a three-game winless run which saw Villa hand the initiative in the promotion race to their rivals.
The manager is now closely monitoring player fatigue to ensure his team don’t run out of steam.
“With QPR, I should have made changes,” said Bruce. “But we’d just beat Wolves 4-1 and I went with sentiment rather than common sense. It’s still with me now.
“It helps to freshen things up, when you play this amount of games. People say footballers should be able to play every day. Of course they can.
“They could play seven days a week if you want. But by the seventh day you won’t be as good as the first day.
“It is like an athlete running a race. Our intensity against QPR was way short, after Wolves. I blame myself. You can still learn in this game.”
Bruce is chasing a fifth promotion from the Championship, having previously claimed two each with Blues and Hull.
“I’ve seen it all before but a couple of weeks ago I made a mistake,” he replied, when asked if those experiences will work as an advantage.
“Experience helps you, of course. But in this game you can always learn. You still have to keep your wits about you and plan.”
