Aston Villa boss Steve Bruce: We will get to where we want to be

The under-fire boss vowed to battle on despite a result which left his team with just one win in eight Championship games and did little to ease the pressure on his shoulders.

For the third successive away game Bruce heard sections of the visiting support call for his head.

The manager entered the night knowing defeat would likely see him face the axe and he still faces an uncertain few days until Villa face Preston on Tuesday night.

And he said: “There’s a certain element with whom I can’t do the right thing about anything.

“I know, with a club the size of ours, there is an expectation.

“But it is not a given we come to Bristol City and win the game three or four-nil.

“I will get on with it and the do the best I can. I know, with the squad of players we have, we will be there or thereabouts.

“I have been in it a long, long time and in some people’s eyes I will never be the answer.

“I will get on with it, like I always have done. I think we are close. It's patience and we will get where we want to be. Hopefully I am given the time."

Birkir Bjarnason’s header, late in the first-half, earned Villa a point after they had fallen behind to Josh Brownhill’s 16th minute opener.

The visitors came closest to winning it in the second half but John McGinn had an effort saved, while Conor Hourihane shot wide.

Bruce took heart in the resilience shown by his players, adding: “I thought we deserved to win. The referee has made an awful decision in the first-half.

“We could have had a penalty in the second half. Away from home, you need those decisions.

“When you put all those factors together, I thought if any team was going to win it would be us.

“It was never going to be easy. But after an awful start, the resilience of the players and the determination. For me, we were the better team.”