Steve Bruce described Aston Villa’s battering at Cardiff City as a ‘rude awakening’ as the miserable away form continued.
Bluenose Nathanial Mendez-Laing bagged a deadly double and Junior Hoilett added another as Villa were blown away by the Bluebirds in south Wales.
The 3-0 defeat inflicted the heaviest losing margin Bruce has suffered since taking over at the club and he admitted it was difficult to take.
It was a scoreline which matched that of their Championship defeat at Brentford back in January.
“Everything went wrong apart from the first 20 minutes when there wasn’t much in it,” he said.
“The first goal was a poor mistake and after that it was on the edge of embarrassing.
“I have to be honest. It is a rude awakening for us.
“As far as I am concerned I think it is the biggest drubbing I have ever had in the Championship. We simply didn’t do enough of the basics.”
Elmohamady injury
Ahmed Elmohamady is out of Villa’s trip to Reading with a mouth injury sustained at at Cardiff.
The 29-year-old may required surgery after a collision with Bluebirds goalkeeper Neil Etheridge.
Elmohamady was forced off after just 30 minutes and will now face a period on the sidelines.
“He’s got a mouth injury that might need surgery,” Bruce said. “He won’t be available for Tuesday.”
The manager felt that his exit left Villa open and unorganised.
“Once Elmohamady went off with an injury we looked fragile,” added Bruce.
Away support is still strong
Almost 5,000 fans packed into the away end at the Cardiff City Stadium and they made good noise throughout.
The continued support will help Villa in their pursuit for success this season but they won’t stand for performances like that again.
The majority of fans who were left at the end clapped the team off but at least half of the following had departed early after getting fed up with the display.
"I think they know what I think of them," said Bruce.
"They're a remarkable bunch, especially away from home where your diehard supporters are. Again, the disappointing thing for me is we haven't given them enough to shout about.
Bacuna reaction
Leandro Bacuna's time at Aston Villa is almost up.
Bacuna was left out of the Villa squad for the Cardiff match and is expected to join Championship rivals Reading in the next few days.
Football editor Mat Kendrick had his say about Bacuna's time at the club with this opinion piece here .
And it prompted comments from these fans on social media, who gave their verdicts on the 25-year-old utility man.
Lee Lindsay: I actually think this is a loss for AV. He's always had a good work rate, never really let villa down. He is versatile and has a threat it front of goal. Inconsistent at times but a decent player. If he was given his position week in week out I'm sure he would come on leaps and bounds. Good luck to him at Reading.
Todd Bergman: Works hard and finds plenty of the ball but passes to the other team 80% of the time
Ashley Evans: He had that one great free kick goal when we beat Man City at home just after he arrived.
Then I remember that cross for the Benteke header when we won at Spurs when Sherwood kept us up. Apart from those two moments what else did he ever do to stay for 4 years and earn a bumper long term contract? Sums up how badly the club has been run in the time Bacuna's been here.
Amavi
Jordan Amavi has revealed Marseille tried to sign him last winter - but he wanted to remain loyal to Aston Villa for helping him through his injury nightmare.
Amavi finally moved to the French club this week, joining on loan ahead of a permanent transfer last summer.
It marked the end of a frustrating time at Villa for the 22-year-old who had to contend with a severe knee problem, and then losing his place to Aly Cissokho and Neil Taylor.
The French left-back, said: "Last winter they wanted to recruit me.
"It didn’t happen because I just got back from my injury and I was in a club that was counting on me and who supported me during my injury.
"It’s true it happened at a bad time.
"I had just done a full season at OGC Nice, then Aston Villa. It’s in your head that you need to stay strong. I started to become more positive.
"So I made the decision to stay there. I was happy there and I wanted to stay and then I decided to move to OM this summer."
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