Express & Star

Steve Bruce: Aston Villa players have let themselves down

Fuming boss Steve Bruce accused Villa’s players of letting themselves down after a 3-1 defeat at Norwich left their automatic promotion hopes in tatters.

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The sorry showing at Carrow Road saw Villa blow a big chance to close on second-placed Cardiff.

Villa, who host the Bluebirds on Tuesday, remain seven points outside the automatic promotion places with only five games remaining.

And Bruce said: “We didn’t do enough. That is the most frustrating thing.

“When it matters, we have not done enough. We always knew there would be strange results but sometimes you have to do the basics.

“Certainly we did not do enough of the basics to get something out of the game.

“Over the last month we have only taken four points from five games. That is not promotion form.

“It is not even play-off form. There is the disappointment. We have not performed when we really needed to.”

After a low-key first half, Josh Murphy broke the deadlock with a spectacular strike seconds before the break.

Dennis Srbeny then doubled the Canaries advantage early in the second half and though Jack Grealish then pulled one back for Villa, James Maddison hit Norwich’s third to end any hopes of a comeback.

“My reaction, as it always is when we play like that, is disappointment,” added Bruce.

“I didn’t think we did enough from the first whistle to the last and got what we deserved.

“The disappointing thing is we gave ourselves a wonderful chance through performances during the season and the last three of four games we have been found wanting. What that is down to, I don’t know.”