Birmingham City will face Coventry City at St. Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park in the Sky Bet Championship on Saturday afternoon.
Both teams lost in midweek, which was a setback for their respective aims. Blues, who were in the play-offs in October, are now fighting relegation, and their 1-0 loss to Cardiff has dropped them to second from bottom in the table. Coventry City, who are in the play-offs, fell 2-1 at Southampton and are five points behind Norwich City, but they have a game in hand.
Birmingham have not won against Coventry in their last eight league games and have not beaten the Sky Blues since August 2011. They have not scored in their last three league games against Coventry. If Mark Robins’ side wins, they will achieve a league double over Birmingham for the first time since the 2008/09 season.
Gary Rowett has an excellent record against Coventry, having won two of his last three meetings when at Millwall. Coventry have scored 66 goals in the Championship this season, their best in 20 years, and have only failed to score once in their last 25 games.
Both teams played in midweek, thus the players will only have a few days of training. Here’s the most recent injury and team news ahead of kickoff.
Birmingham City team news
Birmingham City will still be without three injured players against the Sky Blues. Lukas Jutkiewicz, Marc Roberts, and Oliver Burke all missed the midweek setback to Cardiff City. Stand-in manager Rowett hasn’t been able to call on any of them since taking over from Mark Venus due to injury.
Jutkiewicz suffered a knee injury against Watford shortly before the international break. He has travelled with the squad on recent road matches, but is not anticipated to be ready for this weekend.
Oliver Burke is suffering from a muscular injury, as reported by his parent club Werder Bremen. Burke has yet to score a goal this season, despite making 22 appearances.
Marc Roberts has a calf problem. He has missed several games this season due to a calf injury, and this one has forced him to miss the last four.
Alfie Chang is a long-term absentee who will not participate. He suffered a knee injury in August and is still recovering as he prepares to return, which will most likely be in preseason.
Out: Alfie Chang, Lukas Jutkiewicz, Marc Roberts and Oliver Burke. Doubt: Lee Buchanan.
Coventry City team news
Kasey Palmer was a replacement for Coventry, and he didn’t start due to a sore hamstring. Meanwhile, Haji Wright was battling with a tight groin, so Coventry have been attempting to keep them injury-free ahead of a potential play-off campaign.
Matty Godden was missing at St Mary’s and has been sidelined for the past three games due to a calf issue. Their manager said that he wanted to be available over the weekend.
Jamie Allen and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto are long-term absentees, with the latter not anticipated to play again this season. Allen broke his cheekbone in January’s FA Cup match against Sheffield Wednesday, while Sakamoto damaged his back against Preston North End, ruling him out for the rest of the season.
Out: Jamie Allen and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto. Doubt: Matty Godden.
