Aston Villa may have to settle for a play-off spot this season as second-place Cardiff City sail off into the distance and the promise land of the Premier League, with Steve Bruce’s men pegged back by several bad results in the past week.

Defeats to QPR and Bolton have handed the Bluebirds the advantage and a tough play-off field is expected with Fulham looking a likely opponent, with the remaining two spots up for grabs.

The club have conducted this season without big-money striker Ross McCormack, who was sent on loan to Melbourne City in Australia following a series of disciplinary problems at Villa Park.

With the Scotsman likely to leave in the summer, there are both pros and cons to his departure…

McCormack is likely to be receiving a princely sum for his registration at Villa Park and the board including chairman Tony Xia will be pleased to have the player’s huge wages removed from the expenses sheet when the season ends.

The player also cost in excess of £10 million to bring to the West Midlands with his transfer an unmitigated disaster both on and off the pitch and although Bruce and the board can do is put the move down to experience and hope to put all thoughts of the huge whole in their pocket behind them.

Villa will need to reduce costs to comply with Financial Fair Play rules that have restricted them so much this season and the removal of McCormack would be an excellent start.

McCormack caused a few problems behind the scenes, most famously his absence at training after claiming the electric gates to his house failed to open leaving him stranded between the walls.

Whereas many would have climbed over or simply pushed the gates open manually and called a taxi, McCormack opted to spend the day at his own luxury, infuriating his boss and rubber-stamping his departure from the club.

Bruce is a firm manager who will be exasperated to have a player who harbours the risk of setting a bad example to others and will be pleased to move him on.

McCormack bagged an incredible fourteen goals in only sixteen appearances in the A-League with Melbourne and there is no denying that the former Leeds man is deadly within the six-yard box.

A remarkable spell with the Whites and a successful period with Fulham, McCormack is one of the greatest strikers in the history of the competition since its rebranding and Bruce will admit his disappointment in failing to get the best for the undeniably talented forward.

There is still a chance McCormack could stay, but don’t hold your breath, Villa fans.

If Villa fail to go up and McCormack does move on, then surely the club’s rivals will be interested in securing a deal for the proven goal scorer.

Clubs with the capacity to pay big wages will be coming down and it would be no surprise to see a side like Villa’s local rivals West Brom take a punt on the plater when their inevitable relegation from the Premier League is confirmed.

Villa simply must go up next year if they fail to do so this year to avoid being mired at this level for an extremely extended period and by selling a forward who has the potential and the capacity to be the league’s top scorer is a sincere risk indeed.

Villa fans, thoughts?