Nigel Reo-Coker was warned about his temper by Aston Villa boss Gerard Houllier after a feisty 0-0 derby with Birmingham. Reo-Coker was involved in a tussle with Birmingham's Craig Gardner and was substituted by Houllier late on.
"Sometimes when you are tired you lose a bit of control and I didn't want to lose a player. I warned them and wasn't happy with the reaction. He will learn.
"We all know how competitive matches in the Premier League are but the midlands derbies are maybe more so than others."
Reo-Coker was continuously in the thick of some heated challenges and exchanges, and even after the final whistle had to be kept away from the Birmingham players by his team-mates.
"You've got to be strong enough to take it on the chin and go on," Houllier said. "In that particular circumstance the referee had whistled and it was a free-kick so we should get on with it."
Asked about the overall game, which lacked quality, he admitted: "We could have done better, maybe it's because it is a derby, extremely tense, very tight, competitive, both teams were extremely committed to the job but didn't allow many chances.
"It's a derby and sometimes they are not allowed to play. Credit to Birmingham they had a clean match, it was physical but not over the top and the referee held the two teams very well."
Houllier also pointed to the gruelling extra-time victory over Burnley in the Carling Cup on Wednesday and said: "We lacked a bit of freshness after the two hours of football in midweek. The introduction of some players brought more invention to our game and more creativity which we need."
The former Liverpool boss was encouraged by the efforts of Emile Heskey.
"I think so. It's a matter of faith and belief, but he works extremely hard for the team, he did his job, had a couple of half chances but his work is more for the team."
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