Preview: Villa vs Birmingham

On form side Aston Villa host Birmingham at Villa Park today; knowing that they can put a nail in their city rivals' coffin if the Villains win. Villa won their last two games 4-0 against Bolton and 6-0 vs. Derby and will hope to continue this form through to today.

Report

Aston Villa are chasing three successive victories for the first time in 12 outings, while Alex McCleish has not won since his first game in charge; a 3-2 win at White Hart Lane back in the first week of December.

Teams

Aston Villa welcome back Craig Gardner; but Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish will give late fitness tests to striker James McFadden and midfielder Sebastian Larsson - with Mauro Zarate set to take McFadden's place.

McLeish: we must give everything

"People are expecting us to lose, make no mistake about that, but the only thing I'm concerned about is us and our players. They have to go into the game with utter belief in themselves," said McLeish.

"Villa have completely destroyed the last two teams they have played against. We've got to make sure they don't destroy us and everybody has to roll their sleeves up, keep their concentration and to give as good a performance as they have all season.

"The players have got to make sure they don't come off regretting a thing and that they have given the Birmingham fans everything."

Forssell: we know how important it is

"These are the type of games you look forward to playing in as you realise how important it is to the lives of the supporters.

"This is a massive game as we know Aston Villa are playing really well at the moment.

"They have a very strong team and are in a different position to where we are."

Squads

Aston Villa (from): Carson, Taylor, Mellberg, Laursen, Knight, Bouma, Petrov, Reo-Coker, Barry, Young, Osbourne, Berger, Maloney, Salifou, Carew, Agbonlahor, Harewood.

Birmingham (from): Maik Taylor, Kelly, Jaidi, Ridgewell, Murphy, McSheffrey, Nafti, Muamba, Larsson, Forssell, McFadden, Schmitz, O'Connor, Jerome, Queudrue, Zarate, Parnaby, Kapo, Doyle.