Steve Bruce hails Aston Villa's resilience after fightback

Jonathan Kodjia's penalty, four minutes from time, cancelled out Pontus Jansson's opener and preserved Villa's unbeaten home record in the Championship.

Bruce's team had been second best for much of a second period in which Leeds twice hit the bar through Jansson and Hadi Sacko.

Bruce said: "I thought we edged it in the first-half. Then they got the first goal which was disappointing.

"Then we had a really dodgy 20 minutes where they could have scored again. It became difficult but we stuck at it. We have made too many mistakes defensively which helped them.

"We stuck at it and we have got a point out of it. In the end we might have nicked it, though I think that would have been a bit unfair."

With Villa pushing for a leveller, referee Roger East initially missed Liam Cooper's handball, only awarding the spot-kick after consulting his assistant Andrew Garratt.

And Bruce added: "It was the right decision. Fair play to the linesman. In that respect he has done well. They got the right decision, thankfully, for us."

Kodjia's goal was his ninth of the season though Villa are still waiting to hear whether the Ivory Coast international can play at Cardiff on Monday before he departs for the Africa Cup of Nations. Ghana have given permission for Jordan Ayew to play.

Bruce said: "We've got permission from Ghana for Jordan Ayew to play and we're waiting on Ivory Coast for Kodjia.

"We're hoping they see sense so he can play the game and then report. They have a training camp for a week so I don't see why he can't play the game and then report to them."