The two clubs met in an ill-tempered affair early in the season
Chris Davies clashed with Marko Salatovic at St Andrews’s in October(Image: Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
Birmingham City chief Chris Davies says there will be no hard feelings when he comes face to face with his Hull City counterpart Sergej Jakirovic on Saturday.
Both clubs were fined for their part in a mass confrontation at St Andrew’s back in October, with the Blues slapped with a £115,000 bill by the FA, and City £25,000.
City were deserved winners thanks to goals from Blues’ Jack Robinson, who was later sent off, Regan Slater and Joe Gelhardt, but the game was marred by a flare-up before Slater’s stunning header just prior to half-time.
After a feisty encounter, which the Tigers won 3-2 to inflict a first home league defeat in 29 games (including League One) on Birmingham, boss Sergej Jakirovic claimed Davies swore at him, and said security staff told him to ‘go back to Croatia’.
Davies, who had seen his side breach FA regulations on player behaviour for a sixth time since the start of last season in that game against the Tigers, believes his side now have the ‘right attitude’.
“You have to face all sorts to be honest with you on that sideline, so no, I don’t hold anything against them for that,” Davies said of the incident in October.
“It was a pretty spiky game, but we’re all just trying to win for our teams, so there’s no hard feelings there. The main thing is that we want to win the game because, from our point of view, we wanted more than we’ve got this season in terms of points and return.
“We’re in a place now, as a team, where we look like we’ve got the right attitude going into games. Against a team like that pushing for promotion, it’s a good chance for us to show what we can be.”
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Davies went on to suggest City had a poor record of behaviour this season, with that incident at St Andrew’s the first of three away from home, followed by Stoke City and Preston North End, which both saw late clashes after away victories.
“It’s important not to get sucked into that stuff. I didn’t know they had that sort of a record, but it just takes concentration away from what’s important,” he claimed.
“I think you need to be competitive, stand up for yourselves and certainly impose yourself, but there’s a line, and if you cross it, it becomes detrimental to your chances of winning the match basically. I want to guard against that, but what we have to be is up for the fight, up for the battle, because that’s what they will make it.
“They’ve got a lot of players that know this league and know that that in itself can give you a chance, and I believe that’s why they’ve had the season they’ve had. This is a game we need to show a real strength of character in.”
Oli McBurnie has attracted no shortage of attention this season, and netted his 15th goal in the defeat at Sheffield United last Saturday, and Davies picked out the 29-year-old as the Tigers’ biggest threat.
“McBurnie’s a really effective striker at this level. He’s got the experience, the nous, the quality, holding the ball, linking the play, attacking crosses. So, we need to be really vigilant and aggressive with that.”
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