Aston Villa v Birmingham City: The past five Second City derbies

Here we look back at the last five meetings between the teams, a run which has favoured the claret and blue side of the Second City.

Aston Villa 2 Birmingham City 0 - February 11 2018

One which will live in the memory for many Villa fans, partly down to the dominant display throughout the game - but mainly thanks to Conor Hourihane's screamer to seal the points at B6.

In a cagey first half, Blues did have a good chance to go ahead via loanee Sam Gallagher, but over the course of the game there could be few complaints about the end result.

Albert Adomah got Villa in front on the hour mark with a smart strike, but the real fireworks came courtesy of Hourihane - who unleashed an unstoppable volley late on to help lift Villa into the automatic promotion places.

To top off proceedings, Blues' Senegalese midfielder Cheikh Ndoye saw red in added time - making for quite a day for the Villa faithful.

That win was Villa's seventh straight in the league. Dean Smith will be hoping to notch his third successive victory when they host Blues this time around.

Birmingham City 0 Aston Villa 0 - October 29 2017

A much more tense affair took place in October of last year at St. Andrew's. As neither side managed to hit the back of the net in a 0-0 draw.

Blues ended up ruing a golden chance spurned by Jota, whilst Villa could have also claimed a victory with efforts from Jonathan Kodjia and Keinan Davis both hitting the woodwork.

Injuries also had their affect on the game, with Isaac Vassell forced off with a season-ending knee injury before Kodjia was forced off with an ankle injury, which was later aggravated on international duty just a matter of weeks later - also ruling him out for a lengthy period.

Neither side will be wanting to see any similar issues during this meeting - and you'd imagine fans will not want to see a similar scoreline either.

Aston Villa 1 Birmingham City 0 - April 23 2017

Villa may have had little to play for in terms of league position when they hosted Blues in April 2017, but the local rivalry showed no signs of dying down in this spicy clash, which also featured tributes to Ugo Ehiougu - who sadly died aged 44 just days ahead of the game.

In what was Harry Redknapp's first game in charge of Birmingham, it was Villa stalwart Gabby Agbonlahor who proved the difference once again - scoring his first goal in 14 months to cast the visitors into real relegation worry.

The Villa striker bagged the only goal of the game in what was, in honesty, a poor game of football.

The win lifted Villa into the top half of the Championship table, but more importantly, left Blues just two points clear of the relegation zone with two games to play.

Blues did manage to stay up that season, and look in much better shape now as they prepare for the short trip across the city.

Birmingham City 1 Aston Villa 1 - October 30 2016

Steve Bruce made his first trip to St Andrew's as Villa manager for this meeting between the sides, with the hosts challenging for a play-off spot under Gary Rowett whilst Villa sat in the lower reaches of the table.

But it was a game of two goals, although Birmingham fans were left feeling hard done by as their side failed to convert a number of promising opportunities during the encounter.

Now Blues loanee Gary Gardner opened the scoring for Villa mid-way through the first half with a tidy header before running the length of the pitch to celebrate with the travelling fans.

However, David Davis eventually grabbed an equaliser with less than 20 minutes remaining to ensure the spoils were shared come full time.

Clayton Donaldson and Jacques Maghoma both missed golden opportunities in front of goal - Garry Monk will be hoping this bad luck won't strike again this time around.

Aston Villa 1 Birmingham City 0 - September 22 2015

The last cup meeting between the teams came in the thick of Villa's dreadful relegation season - with fans having precious little to cheer about over the campaign.

This game did prove a happy one for Villa fans though, with Rudy Gestede heading home the only goal of the night courtesy of a sumptuous Jordan Amavi cross.

Only four Villa players from the 18 are part of proceedings at B6 now, with Micah Richards starting in defence and Jack Grealish coming on at half-time in that clash. Alan Hutton and Mark Bunn were unused substitutes under Tim Sherwood.

Villa did miss opportunities to double their lead late-on, and their blushes were spared when Maghoma missed a superb chance to level having been sent clear by Demarai Gray.

By the balance of play, Sherwood's side edged the encounter - another three points this year would certainly be welcomed by Dean Smith.