Birmingham City are back in Sky Bet Championship action yet again on Saturday afternoon as they travel down the country to face play-off hopefuls Southampton. Wayne Rooney will be desperate to make a positive response after defeats in his two opening matches in charge.
Both games have seen his squad fail to get acquainted with a new system, allowing Middlesbrough and Hull City to cruise to fairly easy victories. Blues are now 12th in the league standings but it’s so tight that just a single result, either way, could make a huge difference to how things look.
Rooney admitted he has probably thrown his players in at the deep end with his tactics somewhat and will consider slowing down the process. As a result of this, we reckon there could be a return to the 4-2-3-1 formation that was seen under John Eustace, especially due to the difficulty of opposition.
Our thinking here is Rooney can still implement his front-footed approach by instructing his full-backs to bomb forward, while an extra man at the base of midfield could drop in between the centre halves for added cover. This could – theoretically – help fix the issue of being so exposed on the transition.
With all of that in mind, here are the 11 players we think will start this weekend, as well as brief explanations for each inclusion.
1. GK: John Ruddy
One of the only players to impress in Rooney’s opening two matches and is at no real risk of being dropped.
2. RB: Cody Drameh
Is one of the fitter players in the squad and has done a very good job in Laird’s absence. Deserves to keep his place.
3. CB: Dion Sanderson
The skipper is the best ball-playing centre back at the club and will no doubt continue his lengthy run of starts.
4. CB: Kevin Long
Starting to be at risk of getting dropped – especially with Emmanuel Aiwu waiting on the bench – but is likely to get another go.