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Steve Bruce confirmed his interest in Brighton's new signing Leonardo Ulloa, as Aston Villa look set to end their pursuit of another striker.

Ulloa re-joined Brighton on loan until the end of the season from Leicester, but Villa boss Bruce confirmed that the Tigers were interested in bringing in the frontman to help their promotion push.

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Bruce went on to say that he doesn’t want to panic-buy, indicating that there will not be a new striker at Villa park before Wednesday’s deadline.

“We had two particular targets. One has come off, one has gone to Brighton,” the Aston Villa manager said to the Express and Star.

“Ideally, everyone would probably like four (strikers). But unless there is a someone around who I think will be different to what we have got. At the moment we are not close to anything.”

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Signing a striker was a priority for Villa at the start of the window but given Scott Hogan’s form over the last few weeks, that may not be such an urgent need anymore.

Ulloa would’ve offered Villa something fresh for selection in the second half of the season, but the option to stay in the Premier League was too enticing to turn down as he opted for Brighton.

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Villa sit in fifth in the Championship at the moment, only three points behind the automatic promotion spots.

Aston Villa travel to Sheffield United on Tuesday night as they look to close that three-point gap to automatic promotion.