‘If a cabbage comes out again I’ll

SHOULD Graham Potter hear some good-natured stick heading his way when he walks out of the tunnel at Villa Park this afternoon, he’ll have a pretty good idea where it is coming from.

The 43-year-old (right) hails from Birmingham and a number of his school friends will be in attendance today as his Swansea City side look to spoil Dean Smith’s first game in charge of Aston Villa.

It promises to be a challenging afternoon with a full house expected to cheer on the new management team following the departure of Steve Bruce, who had a cabbage thrown at him by one disgruntled supporter in his final game against Preston. And Potter knows if Swansea can pull off a notable victory, he might not get the friendliest of post-match responses.

VILLA PARK ASTON VILLA v SWANSEA CITY 3pm

“My school friends are Villa supporters and they’re in the Villa end. It’s better they stay there than go in the away end, really,” he said.

“They won’t be my friends for 90 minutes and they’ll probably be saying a few words to me when I come out the tunnel! They’re going to be sitting right there, so if a cabbage comes out again I’ll know where it’s come from!

“I think one of them is a season ticket holder, the rest are just coming up and there’s about 10 of them in total with children and family. They’ll add to the atmosphere, which should be great.