Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce has labelled his side as 'unacceptable' following a 1-0 defeat to Norwich City last night.

The former Manchester United player has made a good start to life as Villa manager, but highlighted last night's defeat as the worst performance during his tenure so far.

Nelson Oliveira scored the only goal of the game, rifling a shot in to the bottom corner from distance as Villa struggled to face the challenge of an out of form Norwich side.

Bruce was far from impressed as his side managed just one shot on target and failed to live up to the standards they've set since his arrival.

He told TeamTalk: “I can accept getting beat, what I can’t accept is players not putting their boots on, not turning up.

“We did not do enough with the ball or without it and we got exactly what we deserved from the game – nothing.

“I can’t remember a chance, I can’t remember a cross going into their box, and the number of times we gave the ball away was totally unacceptable.

“Everything was set up for us after our late winner against Wigan at the weekend and I thought we would go into the game bouncing, but it never happened.

“Norwich were on the back of a tough run but we didn’t put them under any pressure at all. You have got to play at a certain level if you want to play for Aston Villa and they didn’t come anywhere near to reaching that tonight.”

Villa sit 13th in the table despite a summer of heavy spending and overhaul that saw them seen as heavy favourites for promotion along with Newcastle United.

They made a bad start under Roberto Di Matteo, but his replacement Steve Bruce has seen their fortunes look far greater.

Villa fans... What do you make of this news? Was your performance pathetic? Let us know in the comments below!