The two rivals meet in the Championship next month.
Birmingham manager Gary Rowett
Birmingham City boss Gary Rowett has predicted that Aston Villa will soon put their disappointing start to the season behind them and go on a winning run, the Birmingham Mail reports.
Roberto Di Matteo’s men have endured a tough start to life in the Championship. They currently sit 17th in the table, having won just one of their opening nine games.
Aston Villa manager Roberto Di Matteo
But Rowett has suggested that they have too much quality in their squad for their form to not turn around in the near future.
“We know that they are a club, with the money they have spent in the summer, I would thoroughly expect them at some point to pick up and go on a run of games,” he told the Mail.
Aston Villa’s Mile Jedinak looks dejected after the game
“You look at some of the teams in there, your concern as a team nearer to the top is one or two wins gives them the confidence to do that.”
There were perhaps some signs that things are beginning to change at Villa Park. Having previously conceded a string of late goals that had cost them several points, it was the Villans that bagged the late equaliser during their clash with Newcastle at the weekend.
Aston Villa’s Aaron Tshibola scored the equaliser against Newcastle
And that goal will have surely given the team the kind of confidence boost they need as they prepare for their upcoming games which pit them against sides they will be looking to leapfrog in the coming weeks.
And Rowett will know that an upturn in their form could be problematic for the Blues. The two teams face each other at the end of October, and if Villa manage to put a run together before then, they will surely go into the Second City derby with a huge amount of belief, especially if they have closed the seven point gap that currently exists between the two sides.
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