Express & Star

Steve Bruce: I want to carry on at Aston Villa

Gutted boss Steve Bruce wants the chance to bounce back from Wembley heartbreak at Aston Villa next season.

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Villa are destined for a third season in the Championship after losing 1-0 to Fulham in the play-off final today.

Promotion was the stated aim at the start of the season, leaving Bruce's future at the club potentially up in the air.

But the experienced manager has vowed to fight on for as long as the board let him.

"I've been doing it a long time," he said. "And I'm in charge of a really great club with a big history and big tradition and big support.

"I'm really gutted for everybody but of course I'll roll my sleeves up and get stuck into it again.

"As long as the people above me see that I'm fit to do it, I'll carry on."

Next season will be Villa's last season of parachute payments from the Premier League, and the club are destinted for a major upheaval this summer.

There are uncertainties surrounding several key players like skipper John Terry, midfield lynchpin Jack Grealish, and loanees like Robert Snodgrass, Sam Johnstone, Josh Onomah, and Lewis Grabban.

But Bruce says he has already had to balance the books.

"It's been difficult this season financially," he said. "We've been dealing with Financial Fair Play for the past 12 months.

"We had to balance the books last time, get loans and frees. It's something which over the last two windows in particular I've come to get used to.

"There's going to be change of course because we won't have parachute money but we'll ask those questions next week or so. We'll see what we've got in store.

"The discussions have got to be had above me to decide what we've got and what we haven't got.

"We're Aston Villa, we have a big proud history. We'll dust ourselves down, accept defeat, and yes it's going to be difficult.

"But we've done it this year, and come close, not quite close enough. We'll try again."

Villa were deservedly beaten 1-0 at Wembley today after a sluggish first half that left them on the back foot.

However, they came flying out of the traps in the second half and were on the front foot for the first 20 minutes.

Fulham went down to 10 men with 20 minutes to go, but Bruce's side couldn't turn the screw in the closing stages.

"The feeling now is just utter disappointment for everybody," added Bruce. "Now the next hard part is where do we go from here.

"Lets not forget we're Aston Villa, a proud club, a big club with big history.

"We move forward. We've got five loan players playing today, two or three out of contract.

"There's a lot of discussions to be had to see where we go next."