Image source, PA

Steve Bruce has got to be a happy man so far this evening. His side are going up to fifth in the Championship as it stands, three points below Bristol City.

While the players get ready to come back out for the second half at Vila Park, let's remind you of this afternoon's big stories from across the EFL...

Aidy Muttram: This City squad has too many injuries right now to cope with a busy Christmas schedule. Our game is too high tempo to keep it up with the same outfield 10 constantly.

Phillippa: I think fatigue is playing a big part tonight for Bristol City... We don't seem to be at our best but there is still 45 minutes left to go & anything can happen!

Image source, PA

Millwall found themselves undone by a Norwich City second-half comeback after Steve Morison had put them ahead at Carrow Road with an eye-catching goal against his former club.

But, goals from Tom Trybull and James Maddison turned the game around in the Canaries' favour after the break, much to the dismay of Millwall boss Neil Harris.

"To be honest, I am raging with my players - and I have let them know in no uncertain terms what I thought of their second-half performance," he said.

"We did really well in the first half to limit them to very few chances, and then went ahead with a brilliant strike just before half-time.

"But in the second half, we lacked all the things you need when you play a good team like Norwich - concentration, focus, leadership.

"The players have been brilliant for me this season, and especially in recent games, but I won't accept it when they let their standards drop like that."

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Leeds United manager Thomas Christiansen was left ruing a number of missed chances from his side as they failed to find a way through a resilient Nottingham Forest at Elland Road.

"Clearly that's two points we've dropped," he said.

"We didn't deserve to win the game on Saturday (against Birmingham). We didn't deserve to get anything that day, but here we did almost everything to get the victory.

"It seemed like there was a wall inside their goal at times.

"We created some big opportunities to score, but on this day unfortunately we've only done enough to get the one point.

"Credit to Nottingham Forest. They have been in a difficult situation recently, but they put in a good performance."

While the players at Villa Park head off for a half-time breather, let's take you through some more reaction to this afternoon's results.

Mark Regan
BBC WM commentator at Villa Park

Arguably the best 45 minutes that we've seen from Aston Villa on home soil this season. So far, so good.

Villa take a comfortable two-goal lead in to the break.

Jack Grealish hits the post for Villa! They could be out of sight.

Image source, Dan Westwell

Managerless Nottingham Forest held promotion-chasing Leeds United to a goalless draw at Elland Road, just 24 hours after the departure of Mark Warburton.

Academy coach Gary Brazil took caretaker charge of Forest and was more than impressed with their resilience.

"I'm proud of how the players performed," he told BBC Radio Nottingham. "I'm proud of what they gave to the team.

"A little bit more quality on the ball, especially in the top-half of the pitch, would have been nice.

"We stayed in the game, we made it very hard for them to score a goal.

"It was a performance well-worthy of a point. You can build on that and look to develop something going forward a bit more."

Albert Adomah is pulling all the strings for Aston Villa at the moment, together with an energetic Jack Grealish.

After a very quiet opening 25 minutes, Villa have been very clinical.

Richard Hoskin
BBC Radio Bristol commentator at Villa Park

Bristol City are in trouble now. They've not been at it, so far. Their supporters have been silenced for the time being.

Tony Carter: If Villa can win tonight, it will be a big confidence booster. A couple of new players to add to John Terry coming back, second place still possible, and with top sides to visit Villa Park, home form will be vital.

This scoreline would bring Aston Villa to within five points of second-placed Derby.

Bristol City's former Villa defender Nathan Baker is booked for a foul on Jack Grealish.

To rub a little bit of salt in to any Bristol City wounds, Villa have posted a goal gif.

So... 1-0 to Villa on the pitch, but we'll let you be the judge as to who is winning on the social media front!

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Richard Hoskin
BBC Radio Bristol commentator at Villa Park

It was an unstoppable header. The game is hotting up now.

Garry Thompson
Ex-Aston Villa striker on BBC WM 95.6

Strikers grasp onto every little thing - hopefully that goal will fill him with confidence and he'll want to get on the ball more.

That's the first goal Hogan has scored in the league since March, and only his fifth in all since his £12m move from Brentford in January.

Well, that's woken the home fans up!

First real attack, first effort on target, first goal.