Birmingham prediction

Following on from last weekends largely forgettable encounter at Bolton, we visit another side in the relegation mix with a trip to St Andrews.

And with the first signs of spring upon us, it is perhaps fitting that Sven is trying to build on the shoots of recovery from the past two games (where we are unbeaten) to launch a late assault on the UEFA position in the hope that Everton or Liverpool slip up between now and the end of the season – or at the very least grab 6th spot which would be out highest Premiership finish and would guarantee an Inter-Toto position.

Team wise, Didi Hamman is back in contention following his ban whilst Michael Johnson should shake off a chest infection. For Birmingham, James MacFadden – instrumental for the Blues since arriving from Everton, is sidelined for a few weeks but Martin Taylor could feature for the first team since his red card following his challenge on Eduardo.

Birmingham are hovering above the relegation zone at present with only one win in twelve and will be desperate to start picking points up (especially so given Fulham can also close the gap on them with a win over Derby this weekend). For ourselves, the hunt for the top six is very congested at present and this fixture provides a big opportunity to get another three points on the board.

Given our recent record against them – bidding for our fifth successive victory, I would take us to scrape this one with a 1-0 victory.