Controversial starter named as Chris Davies rotates in Vertu Trophy - Birmingham City predicted XI vs Bradford

Birmingham welcome League Two promotion hopefuls Bradford to St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park on Tuesday night as two sleeping giants compete for a spot in the Vertu Trophy final.

Blues have a superb opportunity to progress to Wembley for the first time since the League Cup triumph back in 2011 and Chris Davies’ side will be confident they can do so. Birmingham extended their League One unbeaten streak to 15 matches with a 1-0 win over Charlton Athletic at the weekend as Jay Stansfield scored a stunning solo goal to earn all three points.

Davies’ men will take confidence from that result before they take on Bradford. The Bantams have won eight of their last ten League Two matches and haven’t conceded a goal in their last four outings but Birmingham are the heavy favourites for Tuesday’s tie under the lights.

It’ll be interesting to see what approach Davies goes for with his lineup as he’s gradually strengthened as the competition has gone on. In the last 16 against Swindon, Davies opted for a heavily rotated squad with very little experience on the bench. For the quarter-final against Stevenage, however, there were far more first-team players named in the matchday squad.

As League One remains the priority competition, it’s likely a few key men will be rested ahead of the trip to Reading on Saturday. It’s improbable that Davies will leave them at home on this occasion, though, with the big guns perhaps needed as impact substitutes if Bradford begin to cause problems.

Birmingham predicted lineup vs Bradford

Without further ado, here’s the starting XI we reckon Davies will name against the Bantams.

GK: Bailey Peacock-Farrell

A controversial pick, perhaps, given he made such glaring errors against Newcastle recently. Peacock-Farrell is still valued highly by Blues, however, and will continue to play in the cup.

RB: Krystian Bielik

The skipper has had to be patient for minutes recently and deserves a start for such an important game. Ethan Laird, meanwhile, could do with a rest.

CB: Grant Hanley

Signed for this very purpose, Hanley could rotate in for Christoph Klarer who played on Saturday despite hurting his back against Cambridge.

CB: Ben Davies

Without doubt one of the signings of the season, Davies has been so good that Bielik has had to sit out for the past couple of months. He’s integral to this team.

LB: Alex Cochrane

As reliable as anyone in this squad, Cochrane will play a lot of football in the absence of Lee Buchanan after the fellow left-back suffered another serious injury.

CM: Tomoki Iwata

With Marc Leonard and Taylor Gardner-Hickman progressing but not quite ready to start, Iwata is likely to remain in the XI. The other option is of course Paik Seung-ho.

CM: Kieran Dowell

The Rangers loanee is perhaps better in a more advanced position but he played well in this deeper role in the previous round of this competition.

CAM: Lukas Jutkiewicz

The Juke has been a popular choice in many of this season’s Vertu Trophy starting lineups. This is likely the Blues legend’s final campaign as a professional, so he deserves to go out on a high.

RW: Scott Wright

Wright is usually effective as a super sub but Davies will want to see an impact from the start. Willum Willumsson, meanwhile, could come on if Blues are struggling.

LW: Luke Harris

The Fulham loanee scored the final goal in the recent 4-0 win over Cambridge and could get the nod as Davies rotates. Keshi Anderson would probably benefit from sitting this one out to begin with.

ST: Alfie May

Last season’s League One Golden Boot winner has had to play second fiddle to Jay Stansfield recently but should get a chance to return to the XI here.