Birmingham City dealt quadruple injury boost as John Eustace admits ‘season first’ v West Brom

John Eustace has a fully fit Birmingham City squad to choose from for the first time this season, the Blues head coach revealed to the media on Wednesday afternoon. The club has been plagued by injury problems over recent months, contributing to a severe drop in form, but it’s all positives ahead of the derby against West Bromwich Albion on Friday.

Blues managed an impressive 3-2 win away at The Hawthorns in the reverse fixture, with Scott Hogan scoring a hat-trick that day, but the Baggies are a transformed side since then. With 11 victories in 16 matches since Carlos Corberan’s appointment, Albion have soared from the bottom of the league standings right up into the top six.

Plenty of confidence will be taken from Birmingham’s last-gasp 4-3 win at Swansea City on Saturday, but it will still be an incredibly tough challenge to get anything out of the derby. Some really positive team news should help, though. “All three [Harlee Dean, George Hall and Troy Deeney] have been getting on really well, and Troy’s been drawn back in which is great,” Eustace said.

“I think we’re up to full fitness now with the squad, which is the first time we’ve had that all season. With the run of games coming up it’s vitally important everyone in the squad plays a part. You can see it’s not about the 11 who start, it’s those who finish the game. Those players coming off the bench after 60 or 70 minutes are making such a difference.

“Reda [Khadra] will be touch and go for the game. He came off last week with a slight cramp in his hamstring so we’ve had a look at that and it’s very minimal. He’s done a bit in training which is pleasing. If he’s ready for the game, we’ll have to wait and see,” Eustace continued.

Heading into the clash, Friday’s visitors have regained some momentum after being thrashed in the FA Cup. Losing 3-0 at Bristol City two weeks ago, it seemed as if the Corberan honeymoon period may have come to an end, but Albion were able to bounce back with a 1-0 win over Coventry City last Friday.

Now up to 6th in the Championship, nine points ahead of Blues, the Baggies are motoring on towards securing a playoff spot. Some are hoping they may even be able to reach the likes of Burnley and Sheffield United in the automatic promotion places, but that remains a long shot at current. Friday’s game kicks off at St Andrew’s at 8pm.