Dean Smith explains why Gary Gardner won't play against Aston Villa | OneFootball

Aston Villa boss Dean Smith has revealed why they rejected a request from rivals Birmingham City for Gary Gardner to play against his parent club this Sunday.

Gardner controversially joined Birmingham on a season long loan from Villa in the summer and the midfielder has been in fine form of late.

But both clubs agreed that the 26-year-old would not be allowed to play in the Second City derby when the deal was done and Smith says they will be sticking to that plan.

“Yes, it came through to me,” the Villa boss told reporters.

“We had an email from Birmingham City asking for permission.

“The terms of the contract when they were drawn up was that he couldn’t play.

“There was no reason to change that. I think you’re putting too much of a burden on the player himself.

“If he was to have a poor game for Birmingham then you will have their fans questioning him.

“If he scores the winner against Aston Villa then it’s not very good him coming back here!

“I think we can take the burden away from the player.

“That’s why it was in the contract.”