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Aston Villa's team was leaked the day before their League Cup third-round victory over Birmingham City, Blues boss Gary Rowett has claimed.

"I actually knew their team [on Monday] funnily enough," said Rowett, who saw his side beaten 1-0 by Rudy Gestede's second goal of the season.

"That often happens - you often get a little tip-off. Sometimes they're right, sometimes they're not."

Villa manager Tim Sherwood said he was unfazed by Rowett's "strange" claim.

When asked if the leak was worrying, Sherwood replied: "Of course it's not. Did he tell you who it was? It's interesting why he even mentioned it. It's strange."

Gestede's goal with just over an hour gone clinched victory for the Premier League side, after second-tier Birmingham had dominated the first 45 minutes - leading to boos from sections of the home crowd at the break.

"I felt, in the first half, tactically we got the game spot on, got some runners into some great positions," said Rowett.

"I have heard Tim said he purposely let us do that in the first half so they could change tactics in the second half, but I'm not sure a tactic of getting booed at half-time would particularly be a good one."

Saturday's 1-0 derby defeat to West Brom had increased the pressure on this match but Sherwood insisted his side knew what they were doing in what appeared a lacklustre opening half.

"I think we deserved to win by a lot more," he said. "We showed a lot of bottle, even after a first half like that - even though it's how I wanted them to play.

"They took a lot of criticism out there but in the second half they were brave enough to get the ball."