Birmingham City play host to Stoke City on Saturday afternoon looking for a victory which could take the Blues as high as 18th place in the Championship whilst Stoke are merely playing for pride in what has been a season of subtle improvement and consolidation.
Stoke come into the fixture sitting 11th in the table whilst Birmingham sit ten places below in 21st and both clubs come into the fixture with mixed results in their last games.
Stoke lost last time out to Millwall by 2 goals to 1 at the Bet365 Stadium whilst Birmingham kept a clean sheet against Brentford in a 0-0 draw at the Brentford Community Stadium.
Stoke boss Michael O Neill said after the Millwall game: “The squad we had today is pretty much the squad we will have to go through to the end of the season. There’s only Morgan Fox and possibly Alfie Doughty who could play before the end of the season, but certainly not for the next few games.”
This only showcases how badly the club have been affected by injuries this season as James McClean was also recently added to the list of players who are in the treatment room which includes: Joe Allen, Tyrese Campbell, Nathan Collins, Tashan Oakley-Boothe and Jack Clarke of which the latter has retuned to Spurs for treatment.
Meanwhile, Blues boss Lee Bowyer could be without his attacking midfielder Jon Toral after he came off with a hamstring injury against Brentford.
Possible Stoke City Lineup: 3-4-3
Davies, Souttar, Batth, Chester, Smith, Clucas, Mikel, Norrington-Davies, Brown, Powell, Fletcher
Our Score Prediction:
Birmingham 1-1 Stoke
Stoke have shown their defensive frailties recently but when they're on it then they can keep teams out and have enough up front to make teams pay as seen against Bristol City on Good Friday.
We predict, Birmingham to net through Scott Hogan as Stoke fail to keep his low effort out after a defensive mixup but as Stoke start to re-gain a foothold in the game, it will be that man Jacob Brown as he steps up again with a glancing header at the back post to tie the game and snatch a point for Stoke.
This will be a difficult game for both teams and it's hard to see past a 1-1 draw.
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