Birmingham City take on firece rivals Aston Villa tomorrow afternoon looking to maintain their decent start to the Championship season under Garry Monk.

Both sides sit on 24 points in the middle of the table, and the Blues will be desperate to get their first win at Villa Park since 2004.

And one man who was part of that win for Birmingham was former midfielder Darren Carter, with the 34-year-old now talking to the official Blues website and offering his thoughts on the upcoming clash.

"For this occasion, it's so evenly balanced," said Carter. "They are both on the same amount of points in the top half of the table and I think it's going to be an exciting game.

Birmingham are hoping to have attacking players Jota and Jacques Maghoma back in contention for the game with the Villans, which sees new manager Dean Smith take charge of his first local derby game since taking over from Steve Bruce.

And Carter thinks that there is so much to consider in the game, and is expecting an exciting clash, whilst pointing out the important of the likes of Che Adams for the Blues.

"Lukas and Che could be vitally important," he added.

"Strikers in any team are always the guys you look to create a bit of magic and get the goals to win you the game, and they are match winners.  I think Lukas and Che have been phenomenal and the understanding that they've got between each other and the confidence is great to see."

Both teams will be looking to get up and running following the international break, knowing that good form over the winter period can make or break a campaign in the Championship.

The Verdict

There's nothing groundbreaking in Carter's prediction really, but he is right, it does have potential to be an exciting clash.

The form of Adams and Jutkiewitcz is crucial too, and will cause Villa problems.

However, Villa have plenty of talent themselves, and if they hit form, they should have too much for Monk's men.