Gary Rowett indicates changes as Birmingham City provided a double injury boost before Rotherham

Marc Roberts could return against Rotherham United to strengthen Birmingham City’s defence.

After missing a month due to another calf injury, centre-back Roberts returned to training this week and could be called up by Gary Rowett to deal with Rotherham’s long balls. The previously relegated Millers had the lowest average possession in the Championship this season, yet they rank third in aerial balls won.

Oliver Burke, on loan from Werder Bremen and originally signed by Rowett for Millwall, has also returned to training after dealing with muscle concerns. Veteran attacker Lukas Jutkiewicz is still out with a knee injury.

Rowett stated, “Marc Roberts and Oli Burke have trained all week. Alex Pritchard has as well. Jukey is only a touch behind that, so we’ll need to make solid selections.”

The temptation will be to field the same team that defeated Coventry City last weekend, but Rowett has some issues to deal with. The temporary Blues manager could simply be toying with new Rotherham manager Steve Evans, but he has hinted at changes.

He continued, “We have one or two players who have picked up knocks in training, so we will have to be aware of those circumstances. In an ideal world, you’d pick the same squad every week, but that’s not always possible during the week. You have to occasionally alter and make decisions that are either imposed or what you believe the game requires.”