Monday analysis: Aston Villa left searching for a spark after injury curse returns

That is a scenario which again faces boss Steve Bruce, after the injury curse he hoped had been consigned to history re-emerged to claim top scorer Albert Adomah for an as yet uncertain period of time.

On Saturday, at Fulham, the absence of both Adomah and in-form playmaker Jack Grealish proved too much to overcome for Villa, who also lost Ahmed Elmohamady at half-time.

A 2-0 defeat against a team who had won their last six games at home was perhaps in those circumstances understandable. It certainly appeared to be accepted as such by the 5,000-plus travelling supporters who had made the trip to west London in the hope of seeing their own side record an eighth straight league success.

Scintillating as Villa’s recent form has been, it was always likely to end at some point. Though their place in the top two might have been lost, they do not on paper face a more testing away day than the one they faced at Craven Cottage between now and May.

Sympathy with their rotten injury luck will, however, be finite. Bruce knows he must work quickly to find a formula which works without Adomah and quite possibly Grealish for tomorrow night’s home clash with Preston.

Yet Adomah’s loss poses the manager with a problem of which there is no easy solution.

Andre Green would be the obvious replacement but the teenager is unavailable after picking up another hamstring problem.

At Fulham both Robert Snodgrass and Josh Onomah were tried as replacements and neither convinced. Indeed, the decision to switch Snodgrass from the right meant that, for the first-half, Villa effectively neutered one of their own more potent weapons by playing him in a position in which he has always been uncomfortable.

The balance which has been such a strength for Bruce’s men in recent weeks was lost, their set-up leaning just a little too much on the defensive.

In fairness it all worked perfectly well during an opening period in which both teams showed the other more respect than was necessary. Villa even went closest to open the scoring when Birkir Bjarnason exchanged passes with Mile Jedinak, raced to the edge of the box and fired just wide.

But in the second half Fulham were able to move through the gears and when Villa tried to do the same they found their creative outlets either off the field or out-of-sorts.

The Cottagers took the lead seven minutes after the restart when Ryan Sessegnon swept home Ryan Fredericks’s cutback, while any hopes of a comeback were well and truly dashed when Sam Johnstone’s mis-hit free-kick allowed Floyd Ayite to score spectacularly from the centre circle.

Positives for Bruce came in the performance of Axel Tuanzebe who impressed at right-back in his first start since joining on loan from Manchester United.

With the big travelling crowd and recent form, this felt like a memorable day in the making but Villa, for once, misread the script.

All they can do now is focus on Preston and hope that a squad which has already proved its worth this season can do so again.

Villa (4-5-1): Johnstone 5, Tuanzebe 7, Chester 6, Terry 6, Hutton 6, Snodgrass 5 (Davis 88), Elmohamady 6 (Onomah HT 5), Jedinak 5 (Grabban 67 5), Hourihane 5, Bjarnason 6, Hogan 5 Subs not used: Taylor, Whelan, Lansbury, Bunn (gk).