Petrov renews Ferguson derby rivalry

Villa skipper Stiliyan Petrov aims to continue his derby-day stranglehold over Blues midfielder and ex-Old Firm adversary Barry Ferguson tomorrow.

The pair regularly locked horns in the centre of midfield during their days with Scotland's two fiercest foes - Petrov for Martin O'Neill's Celtic and Ferguson for Alex McLeish's Rangers.

And tomorrow's Battle of Brum will see them enter another white-hot atmosphere when the pair cross swords at St Andrew's playing for the same managers.

Petrov already holds a 100 per cent record in Second City derbies having been part of the Villa side which defeated Blues 2-1 and 5-1 two seasons ago.

He boasts an impressive record in Old Firm clashes too - winning 17, drawing five and losing 12 in 39 meetings with the Gers.

And the Bulgaria star hopes to heap further misery on Ferguson in tomorrow's high noon showdown.

"I am very good friends with Barry," said Petrov. "We have always had good battles when we've played in the Celtic and Rangers matches.

"He's a player I've always admired. He never gives up and you like to see players like that.

"I have a good record against him. In my years at Celtic we had a positive record against Rangers and hopefully I can keep it that way."

Petrov reckons Blues have got themselves a bargain in landing the ex-Rangers skipper for £1m - and he believes Ferguson will prove he is Premier League class after an indifferent spell at Blackburn Rovers.

"He is a big player," he added. "He is a legend at Rangers. When he wasn't there they missed him and then he came back and they won things.

"Now he is back in the Premier League again and that's where I think his place is because good players should be in a good league.

"He is comfortable on the ball, he can tackle, he can see the game, he has a football brain. When you have a player like that for such a small amount of money you would always say he is a bargain."

Petrov expects a typically fast and furious derby duel - but hopes the game will be played in the right spirit.

"It's going to be a derby, there's going to be a great atmosphere," he said. "The last time it was really intense, there are going to be a few challenges that the fans will enjoy.

"It's a very fast-paced game. Everybody wants to win. The adrenaline is high and everybody is trying to get the team to that win.

"During the 90 minutes it's not really friendly. Everybody battles to win but after that it is not a problem.

"You battle, you say whatever you want on the pitch but, when the game is finished, you shake hands."

But the Villa midfielder insists the pressure is on Blues because they are the home team and need to bounce back from a last-gasp defeat at Tottenham in their last league outing.

And he has assured claret and blue fans the Villa players will not give an inch in the battle for Birmingham's bragging rights.

"They have just come up again and they need to win, especially as it's a home game," he added.

"I don't think they've had a great start so they will be looking to impress their home fans. We are going there to win.

"The last three games we have been quite good, we have played better football and more as a team.

"You can see the last time when we played them twice and beat them twice the fans were very happy. They are our rivals and we want to beat them, that's what we hope to do again. It's not just me, I think the whole team is excited about this game.

"Before we went away for the internationals we talked about the Birmingham match and how important it is for us.

"I think we're going into this game with confidence.

"Winning the last two does help but it's going to be a different game."