Birmingham City v Watford Championship injury news as four ruled and four doubtful

Birmingham City bid to end their wretched run of form when they welcome managerless Watford to St Andrew's in the Sky Bet Championship on Saturday (March 16).

Blues have yet to win under interim boss Mark Venus, who is stepping in for Tony Mowbray during his time of absence. Birmingham lost 1-0 to Middlesbrough on Tuesday night with former loanee Riley McGree scoring the only goal of the game.

The result left Birmingham just outside of the relegation zone and only a point above safety. Watford after one win in 10 matches are still only two points off of the top-half. They sacked Valérien Ismael and replaced him with Tom Cleverley, who has been appointed interim boss.

A win for Birmingham could see them go as high as 17th whereas a defeat could see them drop in to the relegation zone and as low as 23rd. Watford could move above Sunderland in to 12 wih a victory or be overtaken by Swansea City and Millwall should they secure victories. Here is the latest injury and team news ahead of kick-off at the St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park.

Birmingham City team news

Dion Sanderson is back in contention after serving his three-match suspension. He was red carded against Southampton and despite lodging an appeal, the EFL rejected it which meant another game was added on. Birmingham picked up one point from a possible nine in Sanderson's absence, but now there's a hope the club captain can use his leadership skills to help get Blues out of this tricky period.

Krystian Bielik is missing through injury. He has a torn stomach muscle and is out until the international break. He along with Ivan Sunjic and Jay Stansfield were in danger of getting suspended but now they have played their 37th game they can afford to pick up a booking.

Alfie Chang is a long-term absentee, having suffered a knee injury back in August. Marc Roberts had to be withdrawn early on Tusday and was replaced by Cody Drameh. He was hobbling for about 10 minutes and most recently he was dealing with a calf issue.

Siriki Dembele missed the defeat to Middlesbrough after suffering a foot injury. It is unsure how long he will be sidelined for having needed stitches through a clash with an opponent.

Out: Alfie Chang and Krystian Bielik. Doubtful: Marc Roberts and Siriki Dembele.

Watford team news

Jeremy Ngakia did not feature for Watford in what turned out to be the final game of Valérien Ismaël's tenure. He suffered a knee injury against Millwall and that has put him out of action for four months.

It was his first game since November having been out with an ankle problem and now the knee injury will cause him to miss more of the campaign. The 23-year-old right-back has been limited to just 14 games this season.

Ken Sema didn't play against Coventry either and the Hornets are awaiting the results of a scan to assess him. He was forced off in the draw with Swansea City last Wednesday, and like Ngakia has had to deal with his fair share of injury problems this season. The 30-year-old has played 29 times this season but had spells out in September to October and December to the end of January.

Georgian international Giorgi Chakvetadze is a doubt after suffering an injury in the defeat to Coventry. He suffered what appeared to a knock to his ankle which caused bruising.

Centre-back Wesley Hoedt is absent through suspension. Watford's captain picked up his tenth yellow card of the campaign and will serve a two-match ban.

Out: Jeremy Ngakia and Wesley Hoedt. Doubt: Giorgi Chakvetadze and Ken Sema.