Matt Derbyshire ready for Birmingham adventure after Greek odyssey

Matt Derbyshire smiles when asked about the wrinkle of fate that has made Blackburn Rovers his first opponents as a Birmingham City player tomorrow, after being signed on loan by Alex McLeish from Olympiakos this week. "People say you couldn't script it, but for me it's more important just to put on a Birmingham jersey and play," says the 24-year-old. Having joined Blackburn from non-league Great Harwood Town in 2003 Derbyshire departed in 2009, deciding the direct approach preferred by Sam Allardyce, the Rovers manager, was ill suited to his instincts. "When Sam Allardyce came in I knew what players he liked. As a striker he likes the big targetman. I wasn't that so I decided it was time to move on," Derbyshire says. "It was a good decision. It was all on my head, I went in and said: 'I'm not playing and I know what kind of strikers you like.' Personally, it was a great decision. I'm in the game to play football, not to sit around and pick up my money, that's not what I'm about." Derbyshire arrived in Athens in January 2009 to start a loan deal knowing nothing about the country or Olympiakos, Greece's most successful club. Assimilation came instantly. A dream home debut featured an extra-time winner to take them into the semi-finals of the Greek Cup before Roy of the Rovers heroics followed in the final against their city rivals AEK Athens. Within minutes of coming on as a half-time substitute, Derbyshire scored. But nearing the end of added time and with Olympiakos trailing 3-2, he suffered a concussion. "A couple of minutes before the end I was smashed in the head by the guy who's at Liverpool now, [Sotirios] Kyrgiakos," Derbyshire recalls. "He came through with his head or his elbow into the back of my head and I went down. I didn't know where I was, there was blood all over the place, it was coming out of my nose and all over my shirt. I got bandaged up and came back on. "It was the 96th minute and AEK had just scored. The ball came over and I scored to make it 3-3. Then it went to penalties and we won 15-14. I didn't know where I was because I was concussed, so it was all very dramatic." Derbyshire's move was made permanent in June last year with the signing of a four-year deal, but having also won the title with Olympiakos and played Champions League football the striker dubbed the "English Killer" felt the pull of home. "I thought I'd play one or two years in Greece, then come back better as a footballer and as a person too," he says. "And it's been an experience of playing outside of England. I will always look back on this as a good decision. It was in the back of my mind for a while [to return], my agent knew that and I said: 'Let's try to sort out something for the [transfer] window.' "I knew Birmingham was a great place to come and play, with fantastic fans. They had a great season last year. I was watching them on TV last season and they were getting in teams' faces, giving no respect to anybody, which is what we need to be doing this season." He returns to the Premier League with a career tally of 31 league goals in 117 appearances. His Greek odyssey should help enhance that record.