Birmingham City return to home soil on Saturday afternoon as they play host to Rotherham United in the Sky Bet Championship. With just two wins in their last 12 league games, Blues will be desperate for a positive result to boost the morale of supporters at St Andrew’s.
Seven points is a fairly sizeable gap between Birmingham and the bottom three but those below will certainly close in if results don’t start improving soon. Rotherham themselves are not out of trouble just yet as they are one point above Blues, but two wins and a draw in their last three have boosted their survival hopes.
This run of form from The Millers will likely concern John Eustace and his side, who have been disrupted this week following a fire at their training ground, Wast Hills. Due to damage to buildings, players have been getting changed at The Hayes before traveling to their usual pitches at Wast Hills.
“Hayes up the road have been a God-send and really help us out on that side of it,” Eustace told BirminghamLive pre-match. “We are very grateful to them but we have still been able to train on the pitches which is good. Unfortunately we won’t be able to use the building until the end of the season – we are looking at options,” Eustace said.
Blues will have to make do without arguably their most impressive performer in the 1-1 draw at Wigan Athletic last week - Juninho Bacuna - as the Curaçao international picked up his 10th yellow of the card. With that in mind, here is the starting XI we think Eustace will go for without Bacuna – in a 3-4-1-2 formation.
This run of form from The Millers will likely concern John Eustace and his side, who have been disrupted this week following a fire at their training ground, Wast Hills. Due to damage to buildings, players have been getting changed at The Hayes before traveling to their usual pitches at Wast Hills.
5. CB: Auston Trusty
Came back in as if he’d never been gone against Wigan, putting in a top shift. We expect the American to start once again.
6. RWB: Maxime Colin
Been a really reliable option for Eustace in a number of positions, but we think it will be a 3-4-1-2, with Colin on the right.
7. LWB: Jordan Graham
May not be his natural position but he’s done a lot of good work at left wing-back when called upon. Put in some decent deliveries in the first half vs Wigan.
8. CM: Jordan James
Comes in for Alfie Chang, who struggled last time out as a deep-lying midfielder. Eustace has tried a few options, but now we think it’s James’ turn.