Crawley Town v Birmingham City early injury news as 8 out of League One clash

Birmingham City travel to Broadfield Stadium to face Crawley Town in their last EFL League One fixture before Christmas.

Blues are the last offering of live football in England, with Sky Sports broadcasting the fixture on Monday December 23, two days out from the big day. It's possible that Birmingham could be overtaken by Wrexham who play on Saturday, whilst Wycombe Wanderers could extend their lead at the top, but at least Birmingham will know the task in front of them.

Should Wycombe drop any points, Birmingham could find themselves as Christmas number one, which would be a good platform to build on ahead of a busy period. The scheduling of the fixture will allow for any players with any knocks and niggles more time to recover. Here's the latest injury and team news prior to the match.

Birmingham City team news

Emil Hansson was said to be available for the game against Bristol Rovers last weekend but didn't feature in the match day squad. He's been out since the middle of October with a muscle injury.

Chris Davies said he's been training with the team for a week, he's back fit and pretty much available so it’s likely his absence was more of a selection decision.

Alex Cochrane had to come off after just six minutes against Barnsley, losing his ever present status. He exited the Oakwell pitch on a stretcher and had to go to hospital to address the injury. It's since emerged he's got a nasty gash on his foot, but it's hoped he won't be out for too long, but first it must settle down.

In the build-up to the game against Lincoln City, Scott Wright suffered an injury. As a result, he's been missing for the last nine league matches. He was said to be between a week ort wo behind Emil Hansson returning, and so if he doesn't return on Monday, he could return over the festive period.

Alfons Sampsted has a similar timeframe for a return as Scott Wright. Sampsted suffered an ankle injury playing for iceland against Wales.

Out: Alfons Sampsted, Scott Wright, and Alex Cochrane.

Crawley Town team news

Junior Quitirna and Dion Conroy were both spotted doing light warm-ups earlier this month, but are still some way off a return. Conroy hasn't played since pre-season, whilst Quitirna hasn't played since October 22.

Speaking to SussexWorld, last week manager Rob Elliott provided an update on their situation. He said: “Dion [Conroy] and Junior [Quitirna] have trained, this is their first full week back in training.

“I don't know if it will be too early to see them on Saturday but going into the Christmas period it will be brilliant to have them back within the squad.

Jay Williams, Josh Flint and Ryan Sandford have also been missing Club captain Jay Williams has been absent since the end of October with tendonitis. Flint suffered an injury in the same game as Williams, whilst Ryan Sandford hasn’t made an appearance this term.

Out: Jay Williams, Josh Flint, Ryan Sandford, Dion Conroy, and Junior Quitirna.