Aston Villa Fan View: Promotion charge is halted - but not over

After Villa had won 7 games on the bounce, a club record since 1990, the fanbase was expecting a loss at some point, and the game at Craven Cottage against Fulham on Saturday proved to be the game. It was no great surprise, our track record at the Cottage is awful, having won 1 in the last 10, and without star players Jack Grealish and Albert Adomah, it felt like a formality as soon as Fulham scored.

With Villa then following that result up with a 1-1 draw against Preston at home, suddenly doubt and question marks are once being raised again. Football turns that quickly! Bruce has earned the right to chop and change following the turnaround, but it was surprising to see Bruce go with a very similar lineup against Preston that failed against Fulham. Preston are a good outfit, only losing 1 game in 16 prior to their trip to Villa Park, and looked far the better team on Tuesday night. Villa have lost their swagger, and its essentially because Albert Adomah and Jack Grealish are now injured, and look to be sidelined for at least the next week. Villa’s form is still very good, so there is no reason to sound the alarm bells, but with so many other clubs vying for that second place, Villa need other players to step up when key players are out.

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The pace of Cardiff and now Fulham in particular is eyebrow raising for Villa fans. Cardiff have had their bad patch, and are second, whilst Fulham are playing free flowing attacking football and haven’t lost in 9 games. And of course, Derby are still very much in with a shout as well. But with Derby and Cardiff still having to come to Villa Park, many think its still in our hands, which in many ways, it is. There is no doubt that Villa have a stronger squad on paper than both Cardiff and Derby, so with the next 14 games, can Villa make it count? 7 out of the next 8 games for Villa are against opposition in 14th or below, so there is a chance Villa can go again on a huge run.

Next up is Sheffield Wednesday away, who we lost to at home this year, and away last year. Its definitely a must not lose game, and with only 14 games to go, can a team going for automatic promotion afford to go 3 games without a win? Lets hope its a question that doesn’t need answering at 4:45pm this Saturday.