Sheffield Wednesday and Birmingham City clash at Hillsborough in the televised Championship clash on Sky Sports on Friday night.
Blues suffered their first defeat in the league under Tony Mowbray last Saturday by losing 1-0 to West Brom. Mowbray and his players will be keen to get back to winning ways after back-to-back defeats against Leicester City and the Baggies.
Friday's opponents Wednesday were in FA Cup action on Tuesday, losing 4-1 to Coventry City at the Coventry Building Society Arena. Bailey Cadamarteri equalised after Kasey Palmer's opener but Callum O'Hare scored a brace and then Haji Wright made sure of the victory all before the hour mark.
Ahead of the match, there are nine points that separate the two sides and Birmingham possess a game in hand over the Owls. Blues are just four points above QPR and will want to create further distance between themselves and the relegation zone.
Earlier in the season, Birmingham won 2-1 at St Andrew's as they came from behind after George Byers' first-half opener to win thanks to efforts from Juninho Bacuna and Jordan James. Birmingham City were victorious in their last visit to Hillsborough, winning 2-1 in February 2021 thanks to a goal from Scott Hogan.
Both sides were fairly active in the January transfer window and made some additions that they hope will help them achieve their goals. Wednesday's goalkeeper James Beadle was reportedly a target for Birmingham, however he ended up heading to South Yorkshire instead. Goalkeeper is an area of concern for Blues ahead of the game.
Tony Mowbray and Danny Rohl are likely to provide an update prior to the game in their pre-match press conference. In the mean time, here's the latest injury and team news ahead of Friday night's clash.
1. Alex Pritchard - doubt
Came off early on his debut against West Brom with a tight calf. He's someone that will be assessed this week.
2. Alex Pritchard - doubt (continued)
"His calf was tightening up a bit. The intensity; a new club – your body gets tense as you want to do well," Mowbray revealed on February 3. "I think everything was a bit tight and we made a call together at half time to not put him at risk. "I thought the general depth of the squad felt stronger today.
3. Lukas Jutkiewicz - out
He has played one game since the arrival of Tony Mowbray. Earlier this month Mowbray said Jutkiewicz wasn't on the grass and that he might be another week or ten days. He could be back for the game against Sunderland.
4. Di’Shon Bernard - doubt
Coventry City manager Mark Robins wants an incident involving Di'Shon Bernard to be looked at from Tuesday's FA Cup tie. He and Jamie Allen collided and the latter was forced off with what turned out to be a fractured cheekbone. The EFL/FA might investigate the incident and it could have reprecussions should the Wednesday player be deemed a guilty party.