Sorensen vows to make amends
Aston Villa goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen insists he will be unfazed by the expected taunts of the Birmingham fans in tomorrow’s derby encounter at St Andrews.
Sorensen was guilty of a glaring error which gifted Clinton Morrison the opening goal when Blues won 2-1 at Villa Park in December – a result which started a run of four successive wins for Steve Bruce’s side.
It brought back memories of the own goal by Peter Enckelman in the first ever Premiership meeting between the clubs during the 2002-03 campaign.
City fans are sure to take great pleasure in reminding Sorensen of his blunder in the noon showdown, in which Birmingham will be defending their unbeaten record against Villa since returning to the top-flight.
But the Danish international is a strong character who is adamant that he will shut the abuse out of his mind.
Sorensen told the Press Association: “That feeling when you lose a derby is a horrible one and we will want to win this game more than ever.
“What happened last time has happened and it’s something I have to put behind me. Their crowd won’t be in my mind when I go into Sunday’s game.
“We will be going there for the win – and so will I – but I’m going to do my talking on the pitch, not off it.
“We know the fans will be desperate for us to succeed and I’m sure that’s what all the players will be thinking as well.”
Villa have often appeared to lack the desire and hunger for a derby which has seen City win three times and draw twice in the Premiership.
But Sorensen said: “I am sure this time we will want to prove we are not a team that is easily run over.
“It is going to be tough but well worth watching and we will give it everything. We know in this game we have to prove ourselves even more than normal.
“From our point of view it is good we will go into the derby on the back of a good win against Middlesbrough.
“But we had said that before the Everton game recently after winning at Portsmouth and look what happened and how poorly we performed.”
Villa went into the weekend round of fixtures only five points adrift of sixth-placed Bolton despite their inconsistent form this season.
But Sorensen believes it is too early to be making rash predictions about whether Villa can emulate last season’s top-six finish and challenge for Europe.
He said: “There’s everything to play for going into the final couple of months of the season.
“We had a great run this time last year to get into the higher part of the Premiership.
“We are hoping we will be in the shake up for Europe but there is still a long way to go and I don’t really want to talk about it at this stage.”
Sorensen has been impressed with fit-again defender and international team-mate Martin Laursen who has been out of action for seven months with knee ligament damage.
He said: “It is tough for any player when they come back into the side after such a long time out of action.
“Had Martin not performed against Middlesbrough, then Liam Ridgewell might have come back in. But he did well and I know how good a player Martin is.
“He will just be hoping that his injury problems are now well and truly behind him and he can show the Villa fans his capabilities.”
Villa will be without midfielder Eric Djemba-Djemba whose hamstring problem is likely to keep him out of action for six weeks.
Mark Delaney is back in training but the game has arrived too soon for him after six weeks out with a knee problem.
