Carl Ikeme: Wolves will face 'dangerous' Blues

The Castle Bromwich man is well aware of the St. Andrew's side as he lives in the Second City surrounded by friends who support Villa and Blues.

Blues come to Molineux tomorrow on the back of last week's record 8-0 home defeat to Bournemouth.

But Ikeme believes Wolves can't afford to underestimate their lowly neighbours, especially with new boss Gary Rowett in charge.

The shot-stopper said: "It's a dangerous game really – everyone could be going into it thinking we're going to thrash them.

"But I can't see that being the case. They've just got a new manager and they got thumped last week so they're going to have a reaction.

"When you get a new manager, everyone seems to run an extra few yards and with it being a derby, that always make it more tense and more frenetic."

Ikeme admits he can't escape the derby banter given his mates all support Villa or Blues.

He said: "Being from Birmingham, it means that bit more to me. I'm from Castle Bromwich where it's a mixture of Villa and Blues.

"A lot of my friends support Birmingham and a lot of my friends support Villa so half of them want us to lose and the other half text me saying they're desperate for us to win!"

Ikeme added: "Albion will always be the biggest derby but second to that is Birmingham for me and I think it's the same for the fans.

"I love playing in these games and I'm sure the fans love them too. But for the players, it's about keeping a cool head and playing our game.

"We're coming off the back of two good results and it's important we forget what's happened at Blues and we give them the respect they deserve."