Steve Bruce walked into the coffee shop that doubles as a post-match press conference room at Craven Cottage and took his seat behind a small desk. The Aston Villa manager was dignified in defeat and full of praise for Fulham.. But there were other things on his mind and when he was asked, he did not attempt to play them down.
Sometimes, it feels strange when real life bursts its way into football's bubble and collides with the game's more prosaic concerns. So some asked Bruce about how badly Villa had missed the injured Jack Grealish, some asked him if this reverse had been a wake-up call and some asked him about the death of his father, Joe.