Watford vs Birmingham City injury news - as 9 players ruled out and 1 doubtful for Tuesday

Birmingham City head back on the road midweek to take on play-off hopefuls Watford in the Sky Bet Championship. Taking to the field at Vicarage Road on Tuesday night, Blues will be eager to build on their 2-0 win over Rotherham United at the weekend. The Hornets, meanwhile, will want to bounce back following defeat to Queens Park Rangers.

The hosts, now under the management of Chris Wilder following the sacking of Slaven Bilic, have a long list of injuries to contend with ahead of the clash. Defensive trio Francisco Sierralta, Kourtney Hause and Hassane Kamara all remain sidelined, whereas midfield bunch Tom Cleverley, Dan Gosling and Edo Kayembe are on the treatment table.

Wilder decided to go with a back three in his opening game away at QPR but it didn’t work too well as his team were on the receiving end of a 1-0 loss. Whether or not he persists with the same formation awaits to be seen but it could work fairly well as Birmingham also tend to operate with a triple-up of centre backs.

Speaking of Blues, there was an unfortunate injury to one of their players in the 2-0 win against Rotherham United at the weekend. Krystian Bielik, who had just returned to the starting XI following another issue, was forced off the field with a nasty facial blow. “He’s in a bad old way,” John Eustace told Birmingham Live post-match.

“Krys’ two front teeth got kicked out. He has gone to hospital. I think you could see for the first 25-30 minutes how vital he is for us in there. His performance at the start of the game was top and he has been missing for the last three or four games. Hopefully it’s not too bad and we can get him back for Tuesday,” Eustace continued.

It would be a huge blow to lose Bielik once again but the Polish international faces a speedy deadline to be ready, with Tuesday the night Blues travel to Watford. Meanwhile, captain Troy Deeney (hamstring) and central defender Dion Sanderson (back) are still a little while away. Tricky midfielder Juninho Bacuna is ruled out as he plays out the second match of a two-game suspension (10 yellow cards).

Ruled out: Sierralta, Hause, Kamara, Cleverley, Gosling, Kayembe (WAT); Deeney, Sanderson, Bacuna (BIR).

Doubts: Bielik (BIR).