Birmingham City relegation rival makes 'not fit' claim in boost to Sheffield Wednesday and Plymouth Argyle

Huddersfield Town head coach Andre Breitenreiter has admitted he has doubts starting some of his players ahead of their crunch clash with Birmingham City.

The Terriers named an unchanged starting eleven against Swansea City from the one that drew 1-1 with Bristol City the week prior. Huddersfield who could count themselves unlucky against the Robins after a debatable penalty decision lost 4-0 to Swansea at the weekend.

All the goals came towards the final quarter of the match with Jamal Lowe breaking the deadlock on the 73rd before Ronald, Jerry Yates and Liam Walsh inflicted a heavy defeat on to the West Yorkshire outfit. It was a result that has left them in a precarious position ahead of their clash with Birmingham City at the weekend. They are second from bottom, two points off of Blues and three points adrift of safety.

“There was no reason to change the lineup, because last weekend, the lineup they played really, really well, and we had a big win in Bristol,” Breitenreiter responded when asked by BBC Radio Leeds about his team selection.

“It was an incorrect decision that we lost two points, but there was no reason (to change the team) Then I have to say that maybe the fans, they are asking for some players, but I see the players the whole week, and many players are not fit.

“They are not in every training session, so I want to have always the best players on the pitch, and this is most of the time a result of the training sessions. This is the reason always for the line-up. I understand when they ask for experienced players, but then also these players have to show in the training session (that they are capable of starting games).”

Birmingham City travel to the John Smith's Stadium this Saturday (April 27) in a match that has a huge baring on battle to avoid the drop. A rare away win for Gary Rowett's side would see them finish ahead of Huddersfield, but Sheffield Wednesday would need to drop points at home to West Brom to get out of the relegation zone.

As for who Rowett has at his disposal well the injury list is getting much shorter. Both Marc Roberts and Oliver Burke were in the squad for the goalless draw against Rotherham United at the weekend. Burke started and played 45 minutes before being replaced by Koji Miyoshi whilst Roberts was an unused substitute.

Lukas Jutkiewicz is still out with a knee problem that he suffered before Rowett was unveiled as interim boss. Alfie Chang is the only long-term absentee after suffering a knee issue in August.