McLeish keen to improve Villa

Aston Villa boss Alex McLeish has admitted he is finding the job harder than expected, but insisted he is ‘no quitter’.

After 14 games, Villa’s record of three wins, sevens draws and four losses is identical to the one McLeish held with rivals Birmingham City, who were relegated, in the English Premier League last season.

Villa suffered a 1-0 loss to champions Manchester United on Saturday with the fans beginning to show signs of frustration, but McLeish said he understands the supporters’ anguish.

“I’m not going to criticise the fans,” McLeish told reporters.

“I’m not a quitter and I’ll go as far as I can to get this club turned around. I don’t think we really believed in ourselves. The fans did not like it. I wasn’t particularly keen on it either. I was in unison with the fans on that one.”

The former Rangers boss also has to contend with misfiring striker Darren Bent.

The 13-time England international has netted five league goals this campaign, but McLeish rued his team’s inability to find the former Sunderland forward more often.

“He does make great movement,” McLeish said.

“It’s just a pity that sometimes we don’t have quite the quality to see his runs and his movement.”

The Scot said he had tried to use several tactics to get Bent scoring, but conceded it has been difficult to come up with the best combination.

“It’s not easy. I’m just juggling the balls and asking for players to give me outstanding performances to stay in this team. We’re looking for horses for courses every week now rather than saying, ‘I can’t leave him out’,” McLeish said.

“(I am getting) seven out of 10 but we’re looking for eights or nines and any of the midfielders that are ready to do that will be in this team.”