Steve Bruce rues Albert Adomah's absence in Fulham defeat

Aston Villa managed Steve Bruce admitted that the club missed the services of Albert Adomah during Saturday's Championship defeat to Fulham. The Villains had come into the game with the perfect league record in 2018, but they could not find the breakthrough versus their west London counterparts.

Ghana international Adomah has been the Villains' top-scorer this term with 13 goals in the Championship, and Bruce admitted that the absence of the 30-year-old alongside Jack Grealish hampered their chances of continuing their winning run, which lasted for seven matches.

"I think today was always going to be about who could get the first goal. Unfortunately we didn't. We had a few good chances in the first half but we weren't clinical enough. We were dealt a blow before the game with injuries to Jack Grealish and Albert Adomah. Over the last four or five weeks they've been the ones who've given us that cutting edge and penetration," he is quoted as saying by Goal.com.

Both Adomah and Grealish are being tipped to return before the end of the month, but Bruce has insisted that he is unlikely to rush the first-team duo from their hamstring and calf injuries respectively as the club still have a long way to progress to attain top-flight promotion.

The west Midlands side are presently two points behind Cardiff, who occupy the second automatic promotion spot, and Bruce will be hoping to pick a win against Preston North End at home in midweek in order to maintain the pressure on the Welsh outfit.

League leaders Wolverhampton Wanderers have a handy 11-point advantage at the top of the standings, and it appears that the likes of Villa, Cardiff and Fulham will tussle for the second spot with Bristol City, Sheffield United among others dropping reasonable ground since the turn of the year.