Birmingham City will enter this weekend’s Second City without Gary Gardner, with the Blues not getting permission for the midfielder to face his parent-club.  

Garry Monk is looking for his first success against Villa as Birmingham boss, but will be forced into changing his midfield, after he revealed Dean Smith’s side rejected Birmingham’s request to play Gardner.

The midfielder is on loan at St Andrew’s from Villa, with Monk revealing the short conversation they had with their rivals over the 26-year-old’s availability. 

“We did ask, it was a short conversation, a straight ‘No’ from Aston Villa - to be expected,” he told the club’s official website.

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Interestingly, Monk went on to reveal that it isn’t written into Gardner’s contract that he couldn’t play, which has prompted plenty of Birmingham fans to encourage their manager to play the midfielder in Sunday’s clash.

Here is a look at what Birmingham fans had to say in response to Monk’s clarification…