Aston Villa supporters are divided on Steve Bruce, with sections of the Villa Park faithful often questioning his ability, whilst others back their experienced manager to deliver promotion – as he has done throughout his career.  

Bruce’s side struggled in the Sky Bet Championship last season following his arrival, with Villa eventually stumbling away from a relegation fight into a mid-table position.

However, a shrewd summer of transfer window appears to have transformed Villa, and despite a slow start to the 2017/18 campaign, they are showing signs of a promotion challenge.

Four victories in four fixtures have lifted Bruce’s side into seventh place, and they now enter October’s international break just one point outside the play-off places.

In contention for the top-six is where most expected Villa to be this season, particularly with a squad that has been heavily invested in over recent transfer windows.

However, Bruce has certainly made mistakes since taking over, and despite their recent revival, we take a look at TWO key errors the Villa boss has made since his arrival…

Failure to sign left-back cover 

Villa’s decision to let Jordan Amavi leave over the summer was certainly not a surprise, but it left Bruce’s Villa squad short of cover for Neil Taylor at left-back.

Taylor is set to serve a three-match suspension following his dismissal before the international break, which leaves Bruce with a selection headache heading into a key run of fixtures, which begins with a testing trip to Molineux to face Wolves.

Only having Taylor as a left-back option has not caused Villa problems so far, but with the defender suspended, Bruce could regret his decision not to strengthen in the near future.

Scott Hogan  

Hogan arrived at Villa Park last January, in a deal worth a reported £12m, from Brentford.

However, the striker has struggled to make an impression at Villa Park, scoring just one Championship goal.

It was a mistake bringing Hogan in, particularly when you look at the success Keinan Davis is having in the first team at this current time.

Bruce should have put his faith in Davis earlier than he did, rather than spending big money on Hogan.