Ross McCormack will not be selected by Steve Bruce, the Aston Villa manager, until the striker's “attitude towards training improves” after he was left out of the 2-2 draw with Preston.

McCormack, a £12million signing from Fulham in the summer, has been linked with a loan move back to Craven Cottage but Bruce denies all knowledge of such a deal.

The Villa boss, though, has questioned the 30-year-old's commitment to the cause after he missed training because the electric gates on his home would not open.

Bruce said: “In my opinion he is not fit enough to play and he will not play unless his attitude towards training and missing training improves. If that improves then I will reconsider him but if he continues to miss training, as he has done, that will be the situation.”

On the electric gate incident, Bruce said: “He has just not turned off. The latest excuse was that his gates had stuck but he couldn’t jump over a fence that was four feet six inches high.

“There has been too much indiscipline here at Villa. Not in 20 years in management have I ever gone down this route but I feel I have to make a stance because I will not put up with it on my watch.



“He has decided the team has picked itself. How can I pick him when he doesn't come into training? His failure to turn up for training has happened more than once. Everyone can have an excuse but when it is more than once I will not accept it.”

According to a report in the Sunday Mirror, after the striker used the excuse to get out of training, Bruce drove to his home and took photographs in order to prove that McCormack could have scaled the fence in question and travelled to training.

Bruce was also perplexed to explain how his side relinquished the half-time lead to allow battling Preston to salvage a most unlikely draw.

The latest excuse was that his gates had stuck but he couldn’t jump over a fence that was four feet six inches high. Steve Bruce

Albert Adomah was twice on the mark for Villa in the first period but then Jordan Hugill snapped up two goals for a revitalised Preston in the second half to earn a point.

Bruce admitted: "We had a really great opportunity to put them to the sword. We were terrific for an hour and every time we went forward I thought we could score.”

Villa are now nine points adrift of the Sky Bet Championship play-off places while Preston are five points below sixth-placed Sheffield Wednesday.