Saturday was a huge disappointment for Aston Villa in the Sky Bet Championship, with Steve Bruce’s side falling further behind in the race for automatic promotion.  

Norwich City dispatched Bruce’s side 3-1 at Carrow Road, with goals from Josh Murphy, Dennis Srbeny and James Maddison sinking Villa, who only had Jack Grealish’s goal to celebrate.

Seven points now separate Villa and Cardiff City in second, with Bruce’s side only having five games to claw their way back into top-two contention.

The Bluebirds, who Villa face at Villa Park this evening, are in control of the race for second, but Fulham are also competing for automatic promotion.

Tonight’s clash between Villa and Cardiff could open up an opportunity for Fulham, but victory for Villa is absolutely key tonight, particularly after a testing run of results for Bruce’s side.

Here at FLW, we take a look at Bruce’s squad and identify THREE players who must step up this evening or face the axe…

Hourihane could well be axed from Bruce’s starting XI, but if he starts, he owes his manager a big performance.

The Irish international has scored plenty of goals this season from midfield, but was disappointing against Norwich.

If selected tonight, he could be entering last chance saloon ahead of Villa’s run-in.

Alan Hutton is continuing to struggle with a hamstring problem, with Taylor featuring at left-back.

Bruce prefers Hutton in the role, with Taylor seemingly not having his manager’s full trust.

With Hutton sure to be edging his way back during the run-in, Taylor needs a big performance to nail down his place.

Adomah has been Villa’s main attacking outlet this season, but there is no doubt that the winger’s form has dipped since Christmas.

It might be a brave call by Bruce to drop Adomah, but with Andre Green now pushing his way back into contention, the winger’s place might be under threat.