Birmingham City are back in action this weekend

Birmingham City face fellow League One side Lincoln City in the third round of the FA Cup this weekend. The Blues will be looking to keep their momentum going.

The tie is a chance for the Midlands outfit to freshen up their ranks and give some fringe players and youngsters the chance to show what they can do. Chris Davies’ side head into the game on the back of their 3-0 away win at Wigan Athletic last time out and they are top of the third tier table above Wycombe Wanderers and Wrexham.

Birmingham City FA Cup score prediction

Former Birmingham striker Chris Sutton and film star Billy Bob Thornton have both backed the hosts to go through, as per BBC Sport: “This tie should really be called the Chris Sutton derby, because these are two clubs where I really excelled at, as a player and manager. I expect I will be mentioned in the programme. Michael Skubala has done a fine job as Lincoln boss, who only just missed out on the play-offs last season. I've been impressed by what Chris Davies has done at Birmingham too.

“They are an enormous club and you think they should be able to bounce back after being relegated, but this is the first senior management job he has taken on. He has had an excellent grounding in football with various coaching roles but being in the hot seat yourself is very different. This will be close, but I am going with Birmingham to sneak it because they are at home.”

Sutton's prediction: 2-1. Billy's prediction: 2-1

Birmingham City prepare for FA Cup clash

Birmingham have the chance to bolster their ranks with some signings this month. In the meantime though, their focus will be on Lincoln. Davies has hinted that goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell could come in for Ryan Allsop between the sticks and has said: “The idea for Bailey is that he’s played in recent cup matches so looking towards the weekend I would envisage Bailey getting an opportunity to play in that, but I haven’t gone as far as the Swindon game yet. I’m always cautious to go too far down the line because it’s best to get the next game done.

“Bailey has conducted himself really well. He started the season in the number one position and has then come out, but he’s handled it well, he works hard, and he’s looking forward to another opportunity.”

Speaking after their victory at Wigan, the head coach said: "It was a really good win for us, one of the biggest wins of the season and I am really happy for the players because they have had to dig in. It has been a physically and mentally busy period for us but today we looked as fresh as ever.

“We had to be really good with our pressing, and showed a lot of energy against a team who like to pass it around. We did not have the best start in the first few minutes but after that we grew into the game and were excellent.”