Aston Villa dressing room dressing down inspired fightback

The manager used an expletive when describing his team's first-half display on Saturday and was not afraid of letting his players know his displeasure, with midfielder Mile Jedinak later admitting they came close to getting the 'hairdryer treatment' at the break.

Villa fell behind to Sam Gallagher's header early in the second period but two goals from Jonathan Kodjia saw them fight back to win. It was the first time a Villa team had come from behind to win a match since the FA Cup semi-final against Liverpool in April 2015.

Bruce, who remains unbeaten since taking the reins last month, said: "Whatever I said in the first half didn't work. We were s***!

"We've played in fits and starts and at half-time there were a few home truths in the dressing room. It was one of those, are they going to respond or go under?

"Thankfully they responded, they were a different animal. The big acid test was when we went behind, the crowd started to get behind them because they saw them play with effort and endeavour."

Jedinak added: "The manager told us basically just to pull our fingers out. That's the short end of it.

"Everyone knew it wasn't good enough but what the manager said sort of hit home. He said: 'It's not good enough, it's not what I'm about so make sure you go and rectify it'. It was a great response.

"It wasn't (the hairdryer treatment). It was near enough though."

Villa had not won a league game after going behind since they fought back to beat Leicester in December 2014, when Paul Lambert was still manager.

Jedinak added: "When you are breaking these records – which really should not stand to start with – it is great. We knew it wasn't going to be easy and we didn't help ourselves. In the second half we asked questions of them from the get-go and got our rewards."

Kodjia's brace means the striker has now netted five times in the last five games. Jedinak, who supplied the pass for the winner, said: "He has that individual flair and that game changing mentality. We know he is there to help out and it is great how he is banging in the goals."