Birmingham City v Aston Villa: Stewart Downing out to silence Blues crowd
STEWART Downing aims to silence the St Andrew’s crowd on Wednesday in his quest to pick up his second Carling Cup winners medal.
The Villa winger, who was part of the Middlesbrough side that won the competition in 2004, will experience the second city derby for the first time away from Villa Park as the two sides lock horns in the tasty quarter-final tie.
Downing has been in fine form for the claret and blue side this season, scoring five goals – already two more than last season’s total.
He scored a crucial goal in the last round to help Villa sneak past Burnley and set up the mouth-watering derby clash.
Although the 26-year-old will be dipping into the unknown when he pulls on the Villa shirt on Wednesday, he feels the key to succeeding in derby games is to keep the opposing fans quite.
And the 23-capped England international is hoping to do exactly that and beat their arch rivals to progress to the semi-finals.
“I was injured when Gabby (Agbonlahor) scored the winner at St Andrew’s early last season so I haven’t played in one of these derbies away,” he said.
“It’s obviously going to be hostile and they’re going to get right behind their team.
“But if we score and can keep them quiet then we can start passing the ball and playing our game.
“That’s what I’ve always thought in away derbies, you’ve got to immediately quieten the crowd.
“We’ve got to play our normal game and not let the atmosphere intimidate us.”
In 2004 Downing was an unused substitute as Middlesbrough beat Bolton 2-1 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
It was Boro’s first-ever major trophy and Downing remembers it well.
Last season the £12million man had the chance to double his medal tally but Villa were beaten 2-1 by Manchester United.
