Birmingham supporters might be interested to know the last time Steve Sidwell started a Premier League match Villa lost 7-1.

It was, of course, against his former club Chelsea back in March.

Such a gloomy statistic sums up the kind of time the midfielder has had since he arrived at Villa from Stamford Bridge in summer 2008.

Whether it be lack of fitness or form, things have just never quite gone to plan.

Two months ago he was on the brink of joining Fulham, only for new Cottagers boss Mark Hughes to call off the move agreed in principle before his arrival.

Then, his start to the season was interrupted by further injury niggles. All in all, it has been one frustration after another.

Even a week ago the prospect of the former Chelsea man starting against Blues looked remote, with captain Stiliyan Petrov and Nigel Reo-Coker established as new boss Gerard Houllier’s first-choice central midfield pairing.

But then Petrov sustained a knee injury at Sunderland, ruling him out for at least the next two months.

Finally, Sidwell has his chance. He intends to take it, too – and what better way to start than with Sunday’s Second City derby.

He said: “Someone’s misfortune opens the door for someone else. It is not nice, especially for ‘Stan’ because he is fantastic player, our captain and a gentleman off the pitch.

“Hopefully I’ll go in if called upon and do a job and see where it takes me. It is always frustrating when you are not playing.

“Obviously a new manager has come in, seen the team he wanted to play and stuck with it. I’ve just had to wait for my opportunity and hopefully this is it.

“We knew when the manager came in it would be new, fresh ideas and a clean slate for everyone.

“All the lads are still trying to stake a claim. Come January he is maybe going to want to freshen it up a little bit but we’ll see.

“It is all about opinions. Things like that happen under certain managers, you don’t play under some of them but with others you do get a chance.

“Once you do it is about taking it and staying in the team.”

In midfield partner Reo-Coker, now the stand-in skipper, he could not find a better example of what can be achieved.

Like Sidwell, the former West Ham man was made available for transfer by previous manager Martin O’Neill in the summer but has gone on to establish himself as a key player in boss Houllier’s revamped plans.

Only this week, the Frenchman revealed he is eager to tie Reo-Coker, whose contract expires at the end of the current season, down to a new deal and Sidwell is optimistic an agreement will be struck.

He said: “Nigel done very well. I think if you’d have asked anyone, even himself going into this year, would he be signing a new contract before Gerard Houllier took over, it would probably have been 50/50.

“But now, looking at the way he is playing, he is enjoying himself and the deal should be there or thereabouts done.

“Nigel is a good player. He has shown that before, that is why he has come to this club. I remember his first season here – he was excellent.

“We all know what Nigel has got in the locker, the same as everyone else. Everyone has quality and they show it on the day.

“At the minute we’ve got Stan out and Fabian Delph out, Marc Albrighton is suspended so we are a bit shy on numbers.

“But we’ve got enough quality in the team to dig deep and get us through it.”

Sidwell and Reo-Coker, who cost a combined £14million, actually steered Villa to their last piece of silverware, the Peace Cup, forming the midfield partnership which defeated Juventus and Porto, among others, on the way to success in Spain.

And Croydon-born Sidwell admits he and fellow Londoner Reo-Coker knew each other long before they swapped the capital for the Second City, having played together in their younger days.

He added: “Nigel and I go back a long way, obviously playing against each other from my Arsenal days and his Wimbledon days – we used to play for the same borough.

“I’ve grown up knowing Nigel a long, long time. If we play together I believe we can gel quickly, settle in and get results for the team.”

Having played in last season’s 1-0 win at St Andrew’s, secured via a late Gabby Agbonlahor header, Sidwell is under no illusions over just how big Sunday’s game is.

He said: “It is always a big game in this town. We’ve just got to treat it as another match though.

“It is another game in the Premier League  and we’ll just get on with that and whatever result it brings, it brings.

“There will be a lot of attention, I am sure it is going to be a fiery event but we are all professionals and we all know what we need to do.

“I just want to get started.”

By Brendan McLoughlin