The EFL have confirmed Tim Robinson will take charge of Birmingham City v Aston Villa on Sunday, March 10. Ian Cooper and Jonathan Hunt have been named as the two Assistants while Gavin Ward will be Fourth Official.
Robinson has a reputation as a card-happy referee, dolling out 97 yellow cards and six red cards in 27 games this season. He’s officiated matches in the Championship (18), League One (2), League Two (2), FA Cup (2), EFL Cup (2) and EFL Trophy (1).
The ref has taken charge of eight Aston Villa games in his career, only one of which the Midlands outfit have won. In those eight matches, Robinson awarded seven yellow cards to Villa. The Second City Derby is sure to be a tempestuous affair so Robinson could be a busy man on Sunday.
In the Championship, he averages 27.6 fouls per game, 0.79 fouls-per-tackle and 0.11 penalties per game. Neither Birmingham or Villa have won a game he’s officiated this season, but Villa do have the highest fouls-per-tackle rate (1.65) from Robinson.
Ahead of Sunday’s meeting, Villa boast four wins and three draws from their last seven head-to-heads in all competitions. They’ve also only lost once at St Andrew’s since 2004/05.
