Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce has said that his side can catch Championship leaders Wolverhampton Wanderers, insisting that their West Midlands rivals are "there to be shot at".

Villa, who are 12 points behind Wolves, earned their seventh consecutive league victory last weekend with a 2-0 defeat of Birmingham City.

Bruce praised Nuno Espirito Santo's side for their "unbelievable season", but said that his team's mentality over finishing top has not changed.

"All credit to Wolves because they've had an unbelievable season, but they're still there to be shot at," the manager told reporters. The amount of points they've got now is enormous for this part of the season.

"But mentality doesn't change. Can we catch Wolves? Can we mount a challenge to them and put them under pressure? People say 11 or 12 points is maybe too much but that's what we've got to try to achieve.

"We play them at home in a few weeks and that's got to be the challenge to us all. We haven't got anywhere near them yet but can we do it? There are 15 games to go, still 45 points to play for."

Villa meet Wolves in what is expected to be a crunch clash on March 10.