Aston Villa team was leaked, claims Birmingham boss Gary Rowett
Wednesday 23 September 2015 13:52, UK
Birmingham boss Gary Rowett revealed he knew Aston Villa's team 24 hours before their derby defeat - as Villa manager Tim Sherwood dismissed fears over a leak.
Blues coach Rowett admitted he was given a tip-off ahead of the trip to Villa Park, which the visitors eventually lost 1-0 on Tuesday.
Rudy Gestede's second goal of the season clinched victory for Villa to send them through to the fourth round of the Capital One Cup.
Birmingham bossed the majority of the first half and Rowett admitted they had advanced warning of Villa's lineup to prepare.
"I felt, in the first half, tactically we got the game spot on. I actually knew their team yesterday funnily enough, and we did a little bit of work against it, got some runners into some great positions first half.
"That often happens - you often get a little tip off. Sometimes they're right, sometimes they're not. We haven't chased that.
"I felt they did themselves a lot of justice; I don't think there are too many players who would come off and say Villa have won the game easily.
"I have heard Tim said he purposely let us do that in the first half so they could change tactics in the second half, but I'm not sure a tactic of getting booed at half-time would particularly be a good one."
But, despite the apparent leak Sherwood remained unconcerned.
"Well done," he said. "Of course it's not (worrying). Did he tell you who it was? It's interesting why he even mentioned it. It's strange."
