Steve Bruce lays down Aston Villa challenge to Albert Adomah
Steve Bruce challenged Albert Adomah to hit the 20-goal mark this season after the winger continued his spectacular scoring streak to fire Villa past Ipswich.
Adomah netted his ninth and tenth league goals of the campaign as Villa recorded a 2-0 home win over the Tractor Boys to consolidate their place in the Championship’s top six.
The 29-year-old is now halfway to becoming the first Villa player since Peter Withe in 1981 to score 20 league goals in a season.
And delighted boss Bruce said: “Long may it continue - there’s no reason now why he can’t set his sights to go and get another 10 over the next part of the season.
“He’s had a wonderful return, as I’ve said now for the past few weeks. At the start, because of the form of Andre Green, he wasn’t in the team, so it just shows you.
“He’s worked hard and he’s got his reward. Playing on the left he looks to comfortable coming in on his right foot and running across the line.”
Adomah’s haul has included five in the last three games, which have yielded nine points for Villa.
Bruce’s men have now won nine of their last 12 in the Championship as they continue to put pressure on the automatic promotion places.
“Since the start of the season really - apart from the first two weeks - all in all I’ve been very, very pleased with the way we’ve performed,” said the boss.
“Today was never going to be easy. Mick’s teams are always highly competitive, they compete for every ball and they’re a credit to him really.
“It’s not been easy for him but by god they (Ipswich) are difficult to play against. They’re up and at you and they are a threat to any team in this division.”
