Enter the West Midlands football matrix. There are safari parks along the way but the roads to football grounds are filled with bad intentions. Are you sure you want to jack back into the Bull Ring?

In light traffic, you can drive from Villa Park to the Hawthorns in 12 minutes. Ten if you're in Death Race 2000 mode. You can go through Handsworth Wood or Smethwick, observing the divided second city. West Bromwich Albion supporters will be taking the tour at the weekend. Aston Villa host the Baggies in a West Midlands Derby with Championship permutations.

The West Midlands football matrix offers derbies at every turn. Birmingham City, Wolves and Coventry City are massive clubs too. To a neutral like myself, the Villa and Albion represent the biggest although the politics of football in the region are more complex than I imagined. After setting out my stall with tweets to West Brom and Villa fans asking their opinion on which rivalry is the most heated, I received a crash course in West Midlands allegiances.

Most Villans consider Birmingham City their chief foe. The Second City Derby takes precedence in AVFC households. Villa is the older club. City began life as Small Heath Alliance but couldn't wrest bragging rights from the already established Villa in competitive play. Frustrated on the pitch, Small Heath attempted to become the club in Birmingham by annexing the city's name as their own. The back-door move fostered a suppressed rage that has grown with each generation of Claret and Blue faithful. They have dominated the rivalry with a 56-33-38 record in 127 matches. Nor has Villa lost to Birmingham since the derby resumed in 2016 after a five-year hiatus.

Villa also boast a standout record against Albion with 77 wins and 37 draws in 168 contests. They'll need to draw on history as well as the home crowd in this encounter, however. While the team struggles to match last year's promotion push under new boss Dean Smith this term, the Baggies are firmly ensconced in the playoff places.

More magic of the sort conjured against Sheffield United last weekend will be welcome. Billy Sharp put the Blades ahead barely ten minutes in then added two more early in the second half. For 20 minutes, Villa faithful contemplated not just a defeat in that match but a lost season. Then Tyrone Mings and Tammy Abraham pegged two back on 82 and 86 minutes, setting the stage for an improbable stoppage-time equaliser from Andre Green. Call it voodoo, witchcraft or just a sheer miracle, Smith's side cannot afford to be so generous with Darren Moore's side in this tilt.