Jay Stansfield experiment as Chris Davies makes seven changes - Birmingham City predicted XI vs Fulham U21

Blues have the opportunity to go top of Group I as they play host to Premier League club Fulham’s under-21 side on Tuesday night.

Birmingham drew their opening EFL Trophy fixture with Walsall and missed out on the extra point in the penalty shootout before responding well with a 4-0 victory away at Shrewsbury Town five weeks later.

Davies’ side are now gearing up for their third EFL Trophy outing, against the best Fulham’s academy have to offer. Blues are the firm favourites for the match at St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park but the Cottagers’ under-21 team did managed to win 2-1 away at Shrewsbury in August, so anything can happen.

With the fixture congestion ramping up and the more important FA Cup first round tie away at Sutton Town awaiting on Sunday, it’s likely Davies will rotate fairly heavily from the weekend’s 1-1 draw at Mansfield Town.

Birmingham City predicted XI vs Fulham U21

With opportunities handed out to fringe players and a few experiments conducted, here’s how we predict Birmingham will line up against Fulham Under-21.

GK: Bailey Peacock-Farrell - The Northern Irishman has been dropped in favour of Ryan Allsop recently, but that’s likely to swap around in the cup competitions.

RB: Alfons Sampsted - The Iceland international’s opportunities have been limited but he’s played well when called upon. He deserves game time.

CB: Christoph Klarer - The captain in Krystian Bielik’s injury absence, Klarer leads exceptionally well from the back. No matter the fixture, the Austrian should play.

CB: Dion Sanderson - Blues’ former skipper has fallen well down the pecking order of late but he remains a decent player who can be called upon in these competitions.

LB: Alex Cochrane - The left-back has played a lot of football at the start of this season but there’s been very little choice with Lee Buchanan sidelined for a lengthy period.

CM: Taylor Gardner-Hickman - The summer signing is yet to be properly tried out in midfield at Blues but it’s his more natural position. Playing TGH allows Paik Seung-ho and Tomoki Iwata to rest.

CM: Marc Leonard - Forced to settle for an impact substitute role recently, Leonard should earn as many minutes as possible in the cups.

CAM: Luke Harris - The Fulham loanee returned from injury at the weekend as he came off the bench. He’s likely to make his first start back if Davies rests other midfielders.

RW: Jay Stansfield - Davies could use this game as an opportunity to experiment with Stansfield out on the right flank. Willum Willumsson, meanwhile, could do with a rest.

LW: Ayumu Yokoyama - The 21-year-old has only played a handful of times but that could change outside of the league. Yokoyama’s dribbling can be frightening when he gets going.

ST: Lyndon Dykes - The Scotsman started at the weekend, so it could be Alfie May instead, but Dykes could really do with a goal and this fixture provides a great opportunity for that.