Birmingham City boss Alex McLeish is relaxed ahead of Aston Villa tie

Dec 1 2010 by Colin Tattum, Birmingham Mail

ALEX McLeish is in confident mood ahead of tonight’s derby clash and insists he will remain relaxed as he seeks a first derby win in Birmingham.

The Scot says his Blues side are full of optimism after a run which has seen them lose just one of their last eight games.

McLeish is still waiting for his first victory against Villa since taking over at St Andrew’s in 2007.

His first taste of the second city derby came when Blues suffered a crushing 5-1 defeat at Villa Park in the 2007/2008 relegation season.

Things got no better for the Blues chief a year later when his side were beaten 1-0 at home and away after gaining promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt.

The former Rangers boss knows what it feels like to come away with the bragging rights after his time north of the border and several encounters with Glasgow rivals Celtic.

But he is not sweating on his poor run in the Midlands.

“I’m not going to say we’re going to win,” he said.