Birmingham City v Southampton Championship injury news as five ruled out

Birmingham City entertain Southampton at St Andrew's in the EFL Championship on Saturday, March 2.

Blues are on the search for a response after suffering a 3-1 defeat to Ipswich Town last week. The result left them just three points off of the relegation zone and as they move in to the final quarter of the campaign, they'll want to create a gap over those below them, especially with Huddersfield Town and Millwall having new manager bounces.

Southampton come in to the game having lost to Liverpool in the FA Cup on Wednesday night. The Saints lost 3-0 but Russell Martin didn't think that it was a fair reflection on the game.

Birmingham City team news

The treatment room at Birmingham City is virtually empty with only Alfie Chang the long-term absentee. He suffered an ACL injury during a training session in August and was ruled out for the 2023/24 campaign. He signed a new deal whilst recovering and will likely return next season.

George Hall is stepping up his recovery as he tries to make a return from suffering back-to-back hamstring injuries. He has been in training for just under a month and Blues are just being cautious with him before throwing him in to a match day scenario.

Assistant manager Mark Venus said to BirminghamLive: "George has trained for the last three or four weeks and he’s done all the training which is really important. He has to build his confidence with those hamstrings that he keeps breaking down with.

“I have a bit of confidence in George. He has looked like himself. He has physically been stretched to build his own confidence up. We are hoping George can be around the team at some point soon.”

Alex Pritchard and Krystian Bielik are both expected to make a return to action this weekend. Pritchard hasn't played since making his debut against West Brom after suffering a calf problem but will be in the match-day squad tomorrow. Bielik missed the defeat to Ipswich Town last weekend and it was reported that he hurt his groin last week with a scan revealing a small tear, but he has recovered from the problem.

Out: Alfie Chang and George Hall.

Southampton team news

Southampton made eight changes against Liverpool in midweek and those who had to settle for a place on the bench or missed out completely are likely to come back in. Adam Armstrong, Che Adams, Kyle Walker-Peters and Taylor harwood-Bellis were four players who would have otherwise started had it been a league match.

Ryan Fraser is to miss a month of action after suffering an injury. The on-loan Newcastle United winger damaged his knee against Millwall last weekend and is a big blow given he's netted six in his last 13 appearances in all competitions.

"It's a big blow for him, but we'll have him back probably the other side of the international break,” Martin said.

"He's a really big character in the dressing room, so we lose something when he doesn't play which is his relentless running ability, his ability to cross on the move, his desire to go and score and assist and work hard for the team and the others need to step up now.”

He joins Ross Stewart and Juan Larios in the treatment room. Ross Stewart moved to St Mary's from Sunderland for about £8m but has been limited to just two games and has been out with a muscle injury. Larios has been sidelined with a succession of injuries since November 2022 but is expected to make a return to action this term after undergoing a rehabilitation programme in Spain.

Out: Juan Larios, Ross Stewart and Ryan Fraser