Aston Villa

Steve Bruce: 'Aston Villa can still win promotion'

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 13 October 2016

New Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce hails the club as one of the biggest in England and insists that they can still fight for promotion this season.

New Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce has insisted that the club can still challenge for promotion this season despite their poor start to the campaign.

Bruce's predecessor Roberto Di Matteo managed just one win from his first 11 league games at the helm, leaving Villa 19th in the Championship table with only 10 points to their name.

However, Bruce is confident that the team will be able to turn their form around, and hailed the club as the biggest he has managed during his career.

"I realise that we have to turn this around and I'm quietly confident with the group of players I've seen on paper. When you look at the squad we are capable of mounting a challenge and that can be this year too. We're capable of being a very good team," he told reporters.

"They've been a little bit unfortunate but certainly the qualities are there and it's my job to go and get the best out of them. I have to be really careful but I do believe I have one of the biggest clubs in the country. It's a privilege to manage, it's arguably the biggest club I have managed and the biggest challenge of all. The expectation is always going to be there.

"When the opportunity came to manage the club of this size... I am an out of work football manager. The opportunity to manage a club like this - and it's one of the big clubs of our country with great history and tradition, that was the main reason when I got the call."

Bruce's first match in charge of Villa will come against local rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.