Birmingham boss Gary Rowett reckons Aston Villa counterpart Tim Sherwood is in a tough position
Tuesday 22 September 2015 11:08, UK
Birmingham manager Gary Rowett believes Aston Villa counterpart Tim Sherwood has taken on a difficult task.
The former Tottenham boss arrived at Villa in February and steered the club away from the relegation zone to secure another season of Premier League football, and also guide the team to the FA Cup final, when they were beaten by Arsenal in May.
Since that trip to Wembley, Villa have lost two of their most influential players, with Fabian Delph's sale to Manchester City and Christian Benteke's move to Liverpool.
Live Capital One Cup Football
Villa were jeered off the pitch at the end of their 1-0 reverse to Midlands rivals West Brom on Saturday, a result which leaves them sitting fourth from bottom in the Premier League.
"I watched his team when he took over at Tottenham, I thought he did a very, very good job there, his win ratio was excellent," Rowett said.
"And I think we all have to understand that also coming to Villa at the moment is not an easy job, it's a difficult job.
"I think losing some of the players that they lost in the summer makes that job doubly-hard. Any side that loses Benteke and Fabian Delph, regardless of how they've left, it's going to be a difficult job to take on.
"So I've got full respect for that and wish Tim all the best, obviously in this game we've got to concentrate on what we do and see if we can get a result for our fans."
Birmingham travel across the city on Tuesday, having made a promising start to the Championship campaign, sitting in touch with the pacesetters in the Championship after seven games.
Football Gold
The derby clash with will be their first visit to Villa Park in five years, and the Blues will be hoping for a repeat of their last League Cup encounter in December 2010 at St Andrews with their local rivals whom they defeated on the way to winning the competition.
Watch Aston Villa v Birmingham live on Sky Sports 1 on Tuesday evening at 7.45
