This Sunday sees the return fixture of the Second City derby between Birmingham and Aston Villa – this time at St Andrew’s.

Sunday afternoon will see the two teams who are in the hunt of a play-off place face off to earn three valuable points to edge them closer to the top six.

The Blues’ supporters will think it is their time this Sunday after a 4-2 defeat in the reverse fixture back in November.

But they would have been thinking it is their time whenever they come up against Villa – and it never is.

Birmingham have a wretched recent record against their bitter rivals, having won once in the league since 2005.

Cup wins are great, but they are not three points great, and the Blues have not managed that feat since the 2-0 win 14 years ago.

A few draws along the way have felt like moral victories, but getting the edge over a rival is season changing.

The Blues are ahead of Villa in the league at present and could be seen as the slight favourites heading into the match – but history is against them.

And the Birmingham fans need to go into the game expecting the worst and hoping for the best.

It is a mantra of football fans up and down the country and has been for as long as the game has existed.

They will be nerves, anticipation and dread amongst other emotions from all corners of the Second City before kick-off.

Birmingham’s fans may believe they’ll win this one, just like they have the previous 13 league meetings between the sides – but history is against them.

And the Bluenoses need to remember that history is there to be re-written.