Clowns at Villa Park, again

The Clowns look to have done enough to stay up this season and they have to look upon that as success. Supporters of Birmingham City will be happy that they get to play in this League another season, but there is only one thing that will make their season and that's beating us.

It's an important thing that shouldn't be forgotten by Aston Villa supporters as we approach this game tomorrow. For the clowns that have a ticket, this is all they have been thinking about for weeks. This is everything for them. And those watching at home too.

They're like children at Christmas. Which is funny if you think about it.

And this is an important game for us, but not because it is them, because we need to win to stay in the hunt. And depending on results today, it could be that a win sees us move into the top two. That's important for us. Beating them is the bonus.

But beating them doesn't feel as special as it once did. So maybe we should try to remember how that felt. Back tomorrow.

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Match facts from the BBC

• Villa are unbeaten in their last 11 league derbies against Birmingham City, having not lost to Blues since Emile Heskey and Julian Gray scored in a 2-0 win in March 2005.
• Blues have not scored in any of their past four trips to Villa Park in all competitions, since Mikael Forssell's consolation goal in the 5-1 defeat in April 2008.
• Villa boss Steve Bruce has not lost any of his seven home matches in all competitions against Birmingham since departing St Andrew's in 2007.
• Blues boss Steve Cotterill has not visited Villa Park as a manager since October 2005 - his Burnley side lost 1-0 to Villa in a League Cup tie.
• Villa have not won seven consecutive league matches since February 1990, when they were in the top flight.
• Home winger Robert Snodgrass is enjoying his most productive league season (six goals, nine assists) since the 2011-12 campaign for Leeds United (13 goals, 13 assists).