Steve Bruce insists Aston Villa can still reach top six
Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce is refusing to rule out a tilt at the Championship play-offs this season after his side picked up a hard-earned 1-0 win at QPR.
Man-of-the-match Jonathan Kodjia bounced back from seeing his first-half penalty saved by the excellent Alex Smithies to score the only goal of the game, lashing home low with a quarter of an hour remaining.
The result did not move Villa up the Championship standings at all, but Bruce's side will sit just six points away from the play-off places at Christmas.
And after 11 games at the helm now, the 55-year-old insists he is seeing the desire from his charges that can propel them up the table in the second half of the season.
"We've had the most outstanding chances, and I thought their goalkeeper was going to get man of the match," said Bruce. "There was one save in particular down to his right hand side that was unbelievable, then he saved the penalty and you're thinking if it's going to be one of those days.
"Thankfully Kodija has done what he does best. The pleasing thing is that he's stuck at it, missing the penalty, and won us the match. It's his eighth goal in 11 games.
"We weren't great by any stretch but at least there was a bit of resilience there. There's spirit amongst them to get the win.
"We've still got a long way to catch up, we've got to try and make an impression on the top six, that's got to be our aim.
"We know it's an important period coming up with Christmas and back-to-back home games.
"We've sold out against Burton (on Boxing Day), that's 42,000 people which is testament to the club and its supporters."
