United welcome Villa to St. James’ Park hoping to put further distance between themselves at the bottom three, with the clash under the lights set to be the opening match of another hectic weekend of fixtures in the top flight.
And Magpies head coach Bruce wants his players to use the schedule to their advantage and get a headstart on their rivals with a positive result on Friday night against Dean Smith’s men, who could be without their talisman in midfielder Jack Grealish.
“We play first, so it would be great if we can go and get a result,” he said.
“We know we’re capable of getting a result so we’ll try our utmost to try and post one if we can – then we’ll see what the others do over the weekend.”
United currently sit one point and two places ahead of 18th-placed Fulham, who beat Liverpool 1-0 at Anfield last time out.
And Bruce insists the Magpies’ dressing room has enough nous in it to handle the stresses of trying to lift themselves away from danger in the coming weeks.
“Certainly experience helps and we’ve got enough experience in the dressing room to handle, to cope with the pressure,” he said.
“We have to deal with a certain pressure every week, in my opinion. When you put on a black and white shirt, there’s a big pressure on you to perform and get results.
“There’s a big expectation of the club because it’s quite unique and a big club, and that’s what a big club demands. So we have to deal with that every week, and I don’t think much changes.”
Newcastle will again be without the services of influential attacking trio Callum Wilson, Allan Saint-Maximin and Miguel Almirón as they continue to work their way back from their respective injuries.
But Bruce delivered some promising news on the progress of frontman Wilson, and insisted that a return is in sight for all three forwards.
“He’s four weeks in, so we’re seeing him on the grass and he’s progressing. That goes for Allan and Almirón as well.
“We’ve just got to let nature take its course. They’re working as hard as they possibly can with the medical department, so we hope with the international break it can maybe do us a turn, and by the end of the international break they’ll be there or thereabouts.”
Villa, meanwhile, have enjoyed a strong campaign in their second season back in the top flight, and lie just three points behind eighth-placed reigning champions Liverpool, with two games in hand.
And Bruce feels his old club are reaping the rewards of having made some shrewd signings over the past few seasons.
“They’ve done remarkably well in the last couple of years in particular, since I left. Watching from afar, the investment in the squad is there for everybody to see,” he said.
“They’ve bought well, they’ve got some very, very talented individuals now certainly on their books. There’s probably two or three players left in two years, which is a remarkable transformation. Congratulations to them, they’ve done very, very well, they’ve had huge investment, but the key to it is obviously buying well, which they’ve done.”
