Steve Bruce makes Aston Villa 'major rebuild' comment

Steve Bruce claims he is dealing with a similar job at West Bromwich Albion to what he faced at Aston Villa.

The former Birmingham City manager was appointed as the Villa head coach back in October 2016 following Roberto Di Matteo's sacking and came close to helping Villa get back to the Premier League. He lost the 2017/18 play-off final to Fulham at Wembley after falling short of the automatic promotion spots that same season.

And veteran manager Bruce is now searching for his fifth promotion to the top-flight with West Brom. Next season, the Baggies will be aiming to compete for the a position in the top six under the 61-year-old's stewardship.

Speaking of challenging next season, Bruce said: "I was in a similar position to this one down the road at Aston Villa. It needed a major rebuild and we went on to lose the play-off final.

"I was sacked three months later but that is football. We didn’t have a huge amount money. I had to sell (Nathan) Baker the big centre-half to bring in John Terry.

"You have got to wheel and deal and I’d like to think I’ve got the experience to get that across." West Brom have two games remaining this campaign and will travel to Reading this weekend before ending the season at home against Barnsley.