Birmingham City v Northampton Town early injury news as 14 out and 1 doubt

Birmingham City are in EFL League One action against Northampton Town in their final match before the international break.

Blues' match against Stevenage has been postponed due to international call-ups, and so this is their final game before a near two-week break. The match against Northampton is their Remembrance fixture, as it is their final game before Remembrance Day on November 11.

After playing in the EFL Trophy and FA Cup, it's back to league action albeit for one more match before the international break. After Wycombe Wanderers ran out comfortable winners, Birmingham City find themselves in second, but with a game in hand.

With only one match to worry about this week, there is more time for players to recover from any knocks or niggles. Here’s the latest injury and team news prior to each manager’s pre-match press conference.

Birmingham City team news

Lee Buchanan hasn't yet made a competitive appearance this season. He suffered a calf injury at the end of July, and then when he was due to return in September, he had a setback.

Krystian Bielik was a possibility for the trip to Sutton United, but he didn't play. An ankle injury at the start of October has kept the captain out, but he’s now closing in on a return after getting himself back out on the grass. 

Scott Wright has been injured since picking up a knock in mid-October. Wright, along with Emil Hansson who was taken off against Lincoln City, won't play this side of the international break.

Out: Scott Wright, Emil Hansson, and Lee Buchanan. Doubt: Krystian Bielik.

Northampton Town team news

The Cobblers are enduring an injury crisis, and have only 14 senior players available. They have a lack of striker options, and that won’t be helped with the likelihood of Tyler Roberts being unavailable.

He’s on loan from Birmingham, and it’s very rare for a parent club to allow one of their own players to feature against them. Roberts was missing for the Kettering game after being sent off against Lincoln City, and so far in his nine games for them, he’s registered one assist.

Providing the full picture on Northampton’s injury woes, Jon Brady said to the Northampton Chornicle, "I had Sam Hoskins, Tom Eaves and Tyler Roberts all available and I was rotating them around but it all unravelled in the Lincoln game because I lose Sam to a niggle with his knee before the game, Tom goes off 10 minutes after coming on and then Tyler gets sent off.

"I was exasperated after the game because I knew we would have no centre forwards available and to have 50 per cent of your squad out and 100 per cent of your strikers out, it’s a challenge in anyone’s book. We currently only have 14 senior players available."

Striker Tom Eaves is seeing a specialist for a facial injury, and it's hoped that it's not too serious. Six out of the 11 players that are currently sidelined through injury have had to have an operation.

Aaron McGowan, James Wilson, Jordan Willis, Matt Dibley-Dias, and Sam Hoskins are out at the minute. Ali Koiki, Callum Morton, Luke Mbete, and Patrick Brough are all long-term absentees.

Out: Aaron McGowan, Ali Koiki, Callum Morton, James Wilson, Jordan Willis, Luke Mbete, Matt Dibley-Dias, Patrick Brough, Sam Hoskins, Tom Eaves, and Tyler Roberts.