Villa were lucky says Blues striker
Birmingham striker Garry O'Connor has branded Villa as lucky to leave St Andrew's the victors as the dust settles on the Second City derby.
Gabby Agbonlahor was the hero again as Villa claimed the bragging rights, courtesy of the England striker's 85th-minute winner yesterday.
Blues boss McLeish opted to match Martin O'Neill's 4-5-1 formation and his City side looked set for a hard-fought point until Agbonlahor headed home.
O'Connor said: "We knew we had to weather a storm from Villa, I thought we did that.
"We got on top and I thought we passed it really well and kept it really well. Overall, I thought we deserved to win the game."
The Scot put in a 79-minute shift as a lone frontman at St Andrew's but he could not find a way past a new-look Villa back four which included defensive debutants Richard Dunne, James Collins and Stephen Warnock.
But Agbonlahor's goal came as a dagger to the hearts of the Blues players and fans and O'Connor admitted he had nothing but sympathy for home supporters in the 25,196 St Andrew's crowd – apologising to City supporters for the "heartbreaking" Second City derby defeat.
He said: "There was a frustrated dressing room. We were gutted after that. We put so much into it and we were a bit unfortunate. It's heartbreaking for the fans. I'm just sorry that we sent them home with us getting beat."
It was a fourth successive win for Villa, lifting Martin O'Neill's side up to sixth in the Premier League, while Blues are now 15th and three without a victory in the league.
But O'Connor is confident City can bounce back – insisting they will be "hard to beat" on yesterday's display.
He said: "The boys gave everything and we're just as disappointed as them. We will pick ourselves up.
"We're a team, we've got a good spirit about us and if we continue to play like that, we will be hard to beat."
