Comment: Could Aston Villa's greatest strength also be their biggest weakness?

There are surely few who would now argue his mission was not a successful one.

With nine games to go this season, Villa still have work to do if they are to secure a return to the Premier League.

Yet the positive impact made on the team’s collective psyche by John Terry, Robert Snodgrass and Glenn Whelan, all of whom were recruited during last summer’s transfer window, simply cannot be ignored.

For years derided for having a soft underbelly, Villa’s character has rarely been in question this term. Indeed, their ability to withstand adversity – in particular when faced with seemingly never-ending injury concerns over key players – is the chief reason they remain in the mix.

Last Saturday’s thumping 4-1 win over Wolves was the best example yet of Villa’s ability to handle the pressure.

On the big stage, it was the likes of Terry, Snodgrass and Mile Jedinak who shone, while Wolves’ hugely talented but inexperienced stars froze in the spotlight.

Of Villa’s starting XI, meanwhile, seven had been part of successful promotion campaigns before. Those not in the group include five-time Premier League winner Terry and Jack Grealish, the team’s undoubted talisman.

It would be fair to assume being able to call on such a vast wealth of knowledge should serve Villa well during what promises to be a nervy climax to the campaign.

But the past week won’t only be remembered for the win over Wolves. Tuesday’s shock 3-1 home defeat to QPR gave rise to concerns that while experience might well be Villa’s biggest strength, it may also represent their greatest weakness.

The problem is less physical, than mental. Bruce was quick to recognise the danger, warning within half-an-hour of Saturday’s final whistle how Tuesday’s match would be an even tougher prospect than the occasion from which his team had just emerged triumphant.

Yet the manager’s decision to stick with the same starting line-up – while a far less straightforward call than some have since claimed – ultimately proved the wrong one.

Fizzing with energy last Saturday, Villa were flat as a pancake on Tuesday and it was the older heads who seemed to experience the biggest drop in production.

Jedinak, so dominant against Wolves, struggled to make his presence felt in the middle of the park. Even Terry appeared a little less commanding than usual.

Bruce later admitted to having ‘learned something’ about his team and their ability to play three games in a week at this stage of the campaign.

The trouble is that Villa’s schedule only becomes more brutal from here on in. Various changes for TV purposes mean Bruce’s men face a gruelling run of five games in just 14 days immediately after the upcoming international break.

It is a pivotal period which will likely prove make-or-break for Villa’s automatic promotion hopes, regardless of what happens at Bolton later today.

How effectively Bruce shuffles the pack to ensure his team retain both their energy and the mentality which has seen them through to this point may well be decisive.