Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce has described his side as "on the edge of embarrassing" in their 3-0 defeat at Cardiff City yesterday afternoon.

Goals from Nathaniel Mendez-Laing either side of an effort from Junior Hoilett helped Neil Warnock's men to all three points and maintained their 100% start to the season in a game where Villa offered little in reply.

Heading into the new season, the Villans were the firm favourites to win the Championship but taking just one point from their opening two fixtures, Bruce thinks that his charges have been given "a rude awakening".

"Everything went wrong apart from the first 20 minutes when there wasn't much in it," he told reporters. "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.

"We have to do more. We are Aston Villa, the favourites to go up and the one thing we have to do away from home is get ready for what is coming, especially when you come here. It made for a really difficult afternoon.

"You get beat like that in the Premier League, okay. But we lost all our shape, our discipline and that is hard to come by when that is all we have worked on for the last three or four weeks."

Next up for Villa is a trip to Reading in the league on Tuesday night.