Steve Bruce has revealed that he has waited for a long time for the "challenge" that he is undertaking as manager of Aston Villa.
The Manchester United legend was appointed as the Villans new boss after predecessor Roberto Di Matteo was sacked just four months into his tenure and, in an interview with Sky Sports, Bruce insisted that he was relishing the opportunity to turn the club's fortunes around following their relegation to the Championship last season.
Villa are the eighth club that Bruce has taken charge of in his 20-year managerial career, and he said he considers the task in hand to be the biggest he's faced since taking up a place in the dugout.
He said: "It (Villa) has got great history, tradition, all the facilities are there and it's one of the great clubs in our country, not just in the Midlands. I've been given a huge chance and I've waited 20 years for a challenge like this.
"The mentality here has been getting beaten too often for too long. We were in the bottom three when I took charge of my first game, we'd won four games out of 50 and hadn't won away [since the start of last season], so it becomes a bit of a habit to get beaten and it becomes acceptable.
"We have to try and change that and try and turn this big juggernaut of a club around. If you take a following of 5,000 to Reading on Tuesday night it shows you the size and magnitude of the club, because there's not many who can do that."
That match away to Reading is part of a three-match unbeaten run that Villa have enjoyed since Bruce took charge - the 2-1 victory becoming the Villans' first away triumph in 14 months - with seven points accrued from those encounters.
The victory at the Madjeski Stadium, coupled with a win and draw against Fulham and Wolves respectively, has seen Villa climb out of the relegation zone and Bruce now claims that his charges have to believe that they can push even higher up the table - and potentially return to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
He continued: "We have to have the belief that we can get there. It might have to be the play-off route, but if we have to go down that route we will. We'll try and get in and around it and give ourselves a chance.
"We've seen over the last few years that the fitness levels of the Championship are now on a par with the Premier League and you have to be able to go Saturday to Tuesday for a long time. It's a marathon.
"You need effort, endeavour and the squad of players have to be genuine, because that's what the Championship demands. If we can do all of those things and have that little bit of edge at the top of the pitch then you have a chance."
Attentions for Bruce and his players now turn to another Midlands derby, with an away trip to fierce rivals Birmingham City to come on Sunday.
Steve Bruce challenges the B'ham fans to come up with some original banter in Sunday's derby:
(via @AVFCOfficial) pic.twitter.com/Lo0d5eFlk5
Bruce once managed the Blues at St. Andrew's, and joked that he was ready to receive all kinds of stick off the home support come kick off.
He added: "I think [the relationship with Birmingham fans] will be a bit different now because I've gone and managed their arch rivals! But I hope I can do for Villa what I did for them because we had some good times.
"It's a huge big city derby that hasn't happened [in the league] for five years. I'm always up for a bit of banter, as long as it stays that way, and let's hope it's a really good spectacle."
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