CURTIS Davies joined Blues by making the cross-city divide stressing: I didn’t feel like a Villa player.

Davies was an outsider at Villa Park after falling to secure regular games under Martin O’Neill.

It looked as if he would be rebuilding his career by rejoining Leicester on loan until the season’s end, but Blues swooped to tempt the centre-half.

Davies said he believed his £3.5 million transfer wouldn’t cause ructions in either camp.

“I think there’s a little bit of less pressure on me (in respect of Blues-Villa rivalry). Kevin Phillips, Liam Ridgewell and Craig Gardner have come to Blues.

“And the thing is with me is that I didn’t play for Villa for a year-and-a-half.

“So I haven’t been a Villa player for a year-and-a-half, in opinion. I don’t think it’s that harsh for the Villa fans to take really.

“It’s not as if I’ve been playing week in, week out and jumped ship to come across the road. The main thing is that I wasn’t playing football, I needed to play football and this is a good footballing decision.”

Alex McLeish went in for Davies due to Scott Dann’s season-ending injury, also factoring in that the chance to sign a player at a good age – 25 – still hungry to fulfil his potential couldn’t be passed up.

Davies joined Albion from Luton Town after Steve Bruce missed out on getting him to Blues six years ago.