Ferguson targets revenge on Villa

Birmingham midfielder Barry Ferguson have targeted revenge after turning up the heat for Sunday's Second City showdown at Villa Park.

Blues will face their cross-city rivals determined to make up for the 5-1 defeat in 2008 – a result that helped condemn them to relegation.

Ferguson arrived at Blues a year later after they had sealed a return to the Premier League, but is determined to achieve vengeance for the club's fans after the nightmare of their last trip to Villa Park.

He said: "Am I aware of what happened there before? Aye, people in the shops tell me all the time about when Birmingham played at Villa Park, the score, and it was a game that more or less resulted in Birmingham being relegated.

"This is one I will be looking forward to, playing on a big park on a good surface and in front of a big crowd.

"You cannot ask for anything more. If you cannot get up for this game there is no use turning up."

Ferguson is determined to put one over on their opponents, after suffering disappointment in his first taste of Second City action through Gabby Agbonlahor's late winner for Villa at St Andrew's in September.

But the former Scotland captain does not believe the 1-0 scoreline was a true reflection of the action.

He said: "We were disappointed to lose the game against Villa at St Andrew's. I thought we were the better team in parts. They scored in the closing stage of the game and that was disappointing.

"We came away without a win but we can put that right this time."