Steve Bruce delighted with Aston Villa spirit following victory
Delighted boss Steve Bruce hailed Villa’s fighting spirit after they battled back to claim a thrilling 4-2 win at Sheffield Wednesday.
The visitors twice came from behind before snatching three points thanks to goals from Conor Hourihane and Robert Snodgrass in the closing minutes at Hillsborough.
Villa had to weather a storm from the hosts - who twice hit the post - and went in trailing 2-1 at the break.
But Glenn Whelan netted for the first time since November 2011 to pull Bruce’s men back on level terms before Hourihane and Snodgrass’s late show.
“The tenacity is something that we wanted to instil when we arrived at the club. It wasn’t there before,” said Bruce.
“To have it and get it is important. The players are now on the same hymn sheet as the supporters.
“For too long the supporters haven’t associated with the team because of what’s happened to the club.
“But I believe they now enjoy watching the team. Long may that continue.
“The players rolled up their sleeves and put in a really good performance.”
Youngster Sean Clare netted his first Wednesday goal to break the deadlock and though Lewis Grabban levelled for Villa, with his second goal in a week, Lucas Joao restored the home side’s advantage in first-half stoppage time.
After Villa had fought back to win, home supporters voiced their anger at referee Neil Swarbrick, with the decision to award Snodgrass the stoppage time penalty among several to spark their ire.
But Bruce said: “I don’t know what they’re complaining about because the guy nearly kicked him over the Kop.
“Snoddy has been invaluable to us. It was a great ball into the box for Glenn Whelan’s goal too.
“He’s been a very good acquisition since he’s come here.”
The boss continued: “I thought it was a very good game.
“We were too open in the first half, certainly for my liking. We addressed that in the second half.
“Overall, to come to Hillsborough and score four times, you deserve to win.
“The longer it went on I thought we were a threat.
“We tightened ourselves up defensively after not really getting after the ball in the first half.
“We reminded them of that and they responded in a great way.”
The only blot on the afternoon for Villa saw Alan Hutton forced off in the second half with a hamstring injury which is likely to sideline the Scot for several weeks.
