Football: Blues v Villa - MARC: ROY'S JUST GR-AIT.

MARCUS Allback insists Aston Villa will have more aggression... but less attitude when they face Birmingham today.

Last season Villa suffered because they were too muted in the first Birmingham derby for 16 years.

Then in the second they went to the other extreme and totally lost control as Blues took the honours yet again.

Repeat

This time around, Allback insists there will be no repeat of the error-filled first leg or the shameful red-card scenes of the second with Dion Dublin and Joey Gudjonsson being dismissed.

But there will be plenty of aggression about their play. Allback puts that down to Villa's first-team coach, Roy Aitken, who followed boss David O'Leary from Leeds in the summer. Aitken is a passionate believer in tough football. And Allback feels that new brand of forceful style of football will catch Birmingham by surprise.

'That edge is what Roy has brought to the way we train and the way we play,' the Sweden forward said. 'He does have an aggressive style and he has added that to the team. Of course, the aggression is only in our style of play. We don't want any repeat of what happened last term, but much of that was down to the fact that the two sides had not met for 16 years.

'But we will definitely have more edge to the way we play today. Derby games are always tense especially for the crowd. But we cannot tone down the way we play. We still have to play tough football.'

However, Allback also admits the players have to carry the can for last season.

'We knew what we had to do and we didn't achieve it,' he said.

'As a player, if you cannot get up for a derby game there is a problem. The manager does not have to say too much because the importance is obvious. So the responsibility rests with us, the players, to get it right.'

CAPTION(S):

EDGE... Marcus Allback