Birmingham City v Norwich City: Early Championship injury news as 3 out and 3 doubts

Jay Stansfield (L) apologised to Birmingham City supporters at the weekend. Dimitris Giannoulis (R) is unlikely to play for Norwich City on Saturday. (Photo by Cameron Howard/Getty Images)Jay Stansfield (L) apologised to Birmingham City supporters at the weekend. Dimitris Giannoulis (R) is unlikely to play for Norwich City on Saturday. (Photo by Cameron Howard/Getty Images)
Jay Stansfield (L) apologised to Birmingham City supporters at the weekend. Dimitris Giannoulis (R) is unlikely to play for Norwich City on Saturday. (Photo by Cameron Howard/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Latest injury and team news ahead of Birmingham City v Norwich City on the final day of the EFL Championship season.

Birmingham City face Norwich City on the final day of the Sky Bet Championship season in a must-win clash at St Andrew's.

Blues are in the relegation zone on the final day of the campaign and are a point behind Plymouth Argyle. Three teams above them could still go down but both Sheffield Wednesday and Blackburn Rovers will need to lose and Birmingham win for them to be overtaken. It’s been 29-years since Birmingham played in League One.

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Saturday's opponents Norwich City still have something to play for and that is to finish as high as possible. The Canaries are all but assured a play-off spot as they have a superior goal difference to Hull City who could dump West Brom out of the top six. They're currently fifth and will play Southampton but should they drop points and West Brom win they'd face whoever doesn’t get automatically promoted out of Leeds United and Ipswich Town.

From a Birmingham perspective everyone is going to be needed if they are to avoid the drop again like they have done on the final day before. Here’s the latest injury and team news ahead of the weekend.

Cody Drameh has found game time hard to come by following the arrival of Gary Rowett. Cody Drameh has found game time hard to come by following the arrival of Gary Rowett.
Cody Drameh has found game time hard to come by following the arrival of Gary Rowett. | Getty Images

Birmingham City team news

Alfie Chang is Birmingham’s only injury absentee. He suffered a knee injury at August which put an end to his campaign. He has been working hard in his recovery and was given a new deal as a motivation for him to get back fit.

Lukas Jutkiewicz has pushed himself hard to recover from his knee injury to be involved in their final day fixture. He played his first game under Gary Rowett against Huddersfield Town and prior to the match, Rowett admitted he was inspired by his efforts to get fit.

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Oliver Burke didn't play against Huddersfield last weekend. His first match of the Rowett era was against Rotherham United but he was substituted at half-time and felt his hamstring. The 27-year-old had been dealing with a muscle problem before Rowett's arrival and is a doubt for the weekend.

Leeds United loanee Cody Drameh hasn't made the match day squad for the last three matches. The 22-year-old started against QPR in Rowett's first game but since then has been limited to a 20-minute cameo against Cardiff City.

Out: Alfie Chang. Doubt: Cody Drameh and Oliver Burke.

Norwich City team news

Liam Gibbs is out for the rest of the season with a thigh injury. He sustained the problem against Sheffield Wednesday and David Wagner confirmed in the middle of April he'd play no further part this term.

Dimitris Giannoulis is another player that is sidelined. He picked up a hamstring injury in mid-March and that put him out for the last nine games. His manager did say he could return in early May but that could be for the play-offs.

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Onel Fernandez is a confirmed absentee after his season was ended in February. The 31-year-old broke his foot during a training session and labelled it as the worst season of his career.

Norwich are also awaiting the outcome of Ashley Barnes' scan after he lasted just 14 minutes against Swansea City at the weekend. Barnes has been dealing with an Achilles problem and hasn't had a consistent training schedule.

Out: Dimitris Giannoulis Liam Gibbs. Doubt: Ashley Barnes

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