Steve Bruce backs Aston Villa’s experience to prevail in derby battle

Ahmed Elmohamady was almost amused when asked whether he is ready for the atmosphere that awaits the Egyptian and his Aston Villa team-mates after the short trip to St Andrew’s for Sunday’s derby against Birmingham City. “Of course,” was the immediate reply from the 30-year-old defender – and no wonder, as he has endured some of the most febrile meetings in world football. Games between Egypt and Algeria sprung to mind.
Elmohamady was 22 when he competed in that World Cup qualification play‑off that became so bellicose that it triggered a diplomatic incident between the countries. That was in 2009, when the nations were drawn in the same group and Algeria’s manager, Rabah Saadane, wept in a pre-match press conference out of fear of what might happen to his family if his team lost.
Tensions between the countries were high for historical and political reasons but also because of previous football encounters, including the infamous 1989 game that descended into violence and led to an Interpol warrant being issued for the arrest of an Algeria player after Egypt’s team doctor was struck with a broken bottle.
“That was very, very intense,” says Elmohamady of the 2009 play‑off, which was held in Sudan after Egypt and Algeria finished level on points and goal difference at the top of their group. “There were over 100,000 people at the game, it was massive.” Egypt lost 1-0 and Elmohamady did not fully get over that disappointment until this month, when Egypt beat Congo to qualify for next summer’s World Cup. “To play in such a hostile environment in such a big stadium, that is a big experience for me.”
He also refers to his experience of the other big English rivalry that he has sampled, the Tyne-Wear derby. “I remember one game when I had an elbow in the face when I went up for a header,” said the former Sunderland defender. “I got eight stitches to my lip. It’s a derby, you expect these things.”
So yes, Elmohamady feels ready to compete in his first Second City derby. Villa’s manager, Steve Bruce, put an emphasis on recruiting experience in the summer and hopes that the wisdom of bringing in players such as Elmohamady, John Terry and Glenn Whelan will be apparent on Sunday, in particular.
Bruce, having also managed Birmingham, will be taking charge of a team for the 12th time in what he considers to be a distinctive derby. “I didn’t realise the intensity of it until I arrived in the city,” he says. “It has an edge to it. That’s probably why kick-off is at 12.”
Bruce knows better than most that even naturally composed players can lose their heads in the heat of the battle for Second City supremacy. “Some players get caught,” he says before recalling the game in March 2003, when his Birmingham side won 2-0 against a Villa team that had two players sent off, including Dion Dublin. “He’d never head-butted anyone in his life but he stuck the nut on [Robbie] Savage, didn’t he?” says Bruce.
“You can get carried away with the occasion. The whole thing gets on top of you and you do something stupid and it costs your team. You cannot let that happen. Yes, you’ve got to be aggressive and the attitude’s got to be bang on but it can’t spill over and let it get the better of you.
“We’ve all done it: you make a silly mistake or go in for a stupid challenge. All of them things can win or lose a derby and they are things you have to guard against.”
Villa go into the game in relatively good form. Having survived calls for his head after his team failed to win six of their first seven league matches this season, his side have hauled themselves up to the Championship play-off spots by wining five of their past six. “We’re progressing,” he says. “We’ve given ourselves a lift after a poor start. We’ve got to be there or thereabouts [at the end of the season]. This is what this club demands. Only now do I feel that I’ve got a squad that is capable of sustaining it.
“When I first arrived [in October 2016] I didn’t think we were anywhere near it. That’s the brutal truth. Inwardly I thought: ‘I’ve got a job on my hands here – if we’re not careful we’ll slip the other way.’ For six months all I did was make us difficult to play against. I didn’t care about entertaining. We’re a little bit more expansive now. We’re certainly playing with two strikers, which I’ve always wanted to do in the Championship. I thoroughly enjoyed watching us last week.”
Steve Cotterill’s task, meanwhile, is to ensure Bruce does not enjoy what he sees. Cotterill is Birmingham’s fourth manager since the sides met at St Andrew’s almost a year ago to the day, with Gary Rowett, Gianfranco Zola and Harry Redknapp all having been shown the door since then, leaving Birmingham at the wrong end of the table.
Cotterill’s only home match yielded a win against Cardiff City. There would be no finer way for him to follow that up than by upsetting Sunday’s visitors. “We’ve got to get revved up but remember to play,” says Bruce.

SOURCE : GUARDIAN SPORTS
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