Gardner to tone down celebration

Birmingham midfielder Craig Gardner will "not go over the top" with his celebrations if he gets a goal in Sunday's derby at former club Villa.

Gardner spent all his career with Villa before making a £3m move to St Andrew's during the January transfer window after becoming frustrated with his lack of first-team opportunities.

He would like to make an impact on his return to Villa Park as City look to avenge a 1-0 defeat earlier in the campaign against their neighbours. But Gardner has no bad feelings towards Villa or their manager Martin O'Neill and any joy at finding the net will be muted.

The former England Under-21 star said: "It is going to be a massive game, especially with myself being a Blues fan, and going to Villa Park and playing in the Blues strip. I just can't wait.

"What reception I get will be up to the fans. I've moved on. It's nothing to do with the club. The club were brilliant to me, and so was the manager. I haven't got a bad thing to say about the club.

"I don't think I deserve stick but if I get a bad reception, I'm not going to take it out on anyone. I'm just going to get on with it, just get on with the job.

"I'd love to score the winner on Sunday but I wouldn't celebrate over the top. Of course, it could be the last goal you score in your career so you've got to celebrate but I wouldn't rub their noses in it. I'm not that sort of person.

"If you score, you deserve the right to celebrate whether it's at Villa, Manchester United, anywhere."

Gardner rails against the perception that Birmingham are only a team of battlers. He said: "People think that Blues are just a team that fight and scrap every time but we are more than that and we've had good results against the top teams. We try to get the ball down and play, let the ball do the work and it shows on the pitch and it shows in the results."