Birmingham City reserves coach Malky Thomson was happy to hand 16 year-old attacker Nathan Redmond a debut in their defeat to Aston Villa.

The schoolboy's lively performance was one of the few positives.

Thomson admitted to bcfc.com: "It was a great experience for him. If you look at some of the top players in the Premier League, the likes of Wayne Rooney, they've been dipped in at reserve level from a young age and that's what we're trying to do at Birmingham.

"The manager is a great believer in that, he wants the younger ones to get experience so it's going to lead to a bit of competition in that dressing room and some of the older ones might see younger one bypassing them."