Aston Villa travel to face Birmingham City on Sunday.
Aston Villa’s Alan Hutton
Alan Hutton has claimed that helping Aston Villa to a victory in the Second City derby clash with Birmingham City would be as great as winning a trophy, the Telegraph reports.
The two Midlands rivals have not met in the league since 2011, so there is understandably a tremendous amount of anticipation amongst the supporters going into Sunday’s contest.
Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce
And Hutton has suggested that the players have also been caught up in the build-up by outlining just how special a victory against the Blues would be.
“Everybody in football starts wanting to win trophies,” he said, as reported by the Telegraph.
Hutton in action with Middlesbrough’s Viktor Fischer
“Some players are at the top of the tree winning everything. You find your level. Winning away, beating your rivals, for me that’s as good as. In such an atmosphere, it will be one up there. This would be a great achievement.”
Having previously appeared destined for the exit at Villa Park, there is no question that helping Steve Bruce’s men to a victory would complete the turnaround in Hutton’s spell with the Villans.
His three loan exits arguably highlight how out of favour he had been at certain points, and yet, he has managed to force his way back into Bruce’s plans and stands an excellent chance of being involved against Birmingham.
And if he can make a positive impact – whether that be by helping the side keep a clean sheet or by perhaps contributing a goal – that helps Villa secure the three points, and perhaps more importantly, the bragging rights, then a lot of what has gone before during Hutton’s turbulent time with the club will surely be largely forgotten about.
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