Steve Bruce Bemoans Aston Villa's Lack of Intensity During Opening Day Draw Against Hull

Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce has admitted his frustration at the evident drop in intensity his side showed in their opening Championship fixture against Hull City; however, Bruce was full of praise for Gabby Agbonlahor, who opened the scoring at Villa Park on Saturday evening. 

Speaking to Aston Villa's official website, Bruce said: "We didn't have the same intensity in the second half. We didn't get out of the traps like we did before the break."

Bruce was also disappointed with his sides lack of clinical edge: "We are disappointed because we had enough chances to put the game to bed. We had two one-on-ones before we scored."  

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Guilty of missing one of the one-on-ones, Gabby Agbonlahor ultimately opened his account for the season with a seventh minute strike and Bruce was full of praise for Villa's current longest serving player:

"Gabby is in a good place at the moment. 

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''He's got himself back to where he should be. He has an important role to play." 

By scoring his first of the season, Agbonlahor equalled the amount of goals he scored in the entire 2016/17 season for Villa - judging by Bruce's comments though, the Villa boss expects the striker to contribute much more this season.