Aston Villa sound out Steve Bruce over manager job
Villa's search for a new manager is set to intensify at the start of next week with Steve Bruce increasingly the frontrunner.
The 55-year-old former Birmingham City boss is understood to have held initial discussions with club bosses over replacing Roberto Di Matteo, who was sacked on Monday after just four months in charge.
Caretaker boss Steve Clarke now appears to be the only other remaining contender as the club hunt their fourth permanent boss in less than a year.
Villa have spent the week carrying out due diligence on several targets, with owner Tony Xia claiming on Friday an initial 10-man shortlist had been whittled down to just two candidates.
Burnley boss Sean Dyche, Brentford's Dean Smith were among the candidates considered.
Clarke, who was assistant boss under Di Matteo, is said to have impressed over the past week, with players responding well to him in training.
Huddersfield Town boss David Wagner is out of the running, however, with Terriers chairman Dean Hoyle confirming the German had committed his future to the West Yorkshire outfit.
Wagner is understood to be highly-regarded by Villa's technical director Steve Round and has led Huddersfield to the top of the Championship.
But in a statement posted on the club's website on Friday, Hoyle said: "David has told me he would never leave us for another Championship club, regardless of who that club is. We all feel like something is coming together here at Huddersfield Town and we're fully committed to seeing that through."
Villa are currently 19th in the Championship having won just one of their first 11 games.
