Birmingham City's Stephen Carr on his hot reception at Aston Villa

Nov 2 2010 by Colin Tattum, Birmingham Mail

STEPHEN Carr admitted he relished being public enemy number one in the Villa-Blues derby.

After the Blues captain’s hand gesture to fans in the North Stand at the end of April’s defeat, which brought a one-game ban for improper conduct by the FA, Carr was quite prepared to run the gauntlet at Villa Park on Sunday.

And he certainly came in for more stick than any Blues player normally would on their arch enemy’s patch.

This time there was no controversy or uproar as Carr made his way to the tunnel after the final whistle.

After clapping Blues’ fans in the Doug Ellis Stand, he simply walked off with his head turned towards the baying home hordes and kept a fixed stare.

As he reached the mouth of the tunnel, not once having broken eye contact, a smile cracked over his face. “It was brilliant. I enjoy it,” he said in reference to his exit. “Unfortunately football is a bit too serious at times but I think the banter is good. There’s no malice in it at the end of the day.”

Carr insisted he gained no extra satisfaction from Blues’ draw due to the way he was received all afternoon.

“No, because I think you always get grief as an away team in derby games. I had it with Tottenham and Newcastle.

“I think players relish coming to opposition grounds in derby games. I’m sure they will enjoy it when they come to us because they will be the underdogs a bit.”

Carr said he felt Blues were making ground on Villa and said there was no bad blood between the teams, despite a couple of flare-ups during the 0-0 stalemate.