David Prutton predicts outcome of QPR v Birmingham City relegation six-pointer | OneFootball

Sky Sports pundit David Prutton doesn't believe there will be anything to separate relegation candidates Queens Park Rangers and Birmingham City on Friday.

Both teams have struggled for a decent chunk of the campaign, with the R's making a much poorer start to the season.

Struggling under Gareth Ainsworth, they then appointed Marti Cifuentes, who has endured mixed fortunes at Loftus Road but has managed to guide his team out of the relegation zone for now.

If Cifuentes can keep QPR above the dotted line, he will have done his job.

Gary Rowett, meanwhile, has just been appointed Birmingham's caretaker manager for the remainder of the campaign, filling in for Tony Mowbray and Mark Venus amid the former's battle with a health condition.

Blues are also above the drop zone at this stage, but have dropped like a stone since John Eustace's dismissal, with this decision to replace Eustace with Wayne Rooney proving to be very costly for the Midlands outfit.

Tom Wagner will not want his first season at St Andrew's to end with relegation - and his decision to make another change in the dugout could pay dividends for Blues.

Looking at the table above, this game could be crucial in both teams' quest to stay above the likes of Huddersfield Town and Sheffield Wednesday.

A draw wouldn't do much for either team - but pundit Prutton is predicting a 2-2 tie - writing for Sky Sports: "QPR have had a tough little run of fixtures and they haven’t quite been able to pull away from that bottom three as they would have liked. And this is a massive game at Loftus Road as 20th take on 21st.

"Birmingham have acted in bringing in Gary Rowett, which was a necessary move until the end of the season considering their recent run.

"That should elicit some sort of response, and I’ll back them to get a draw here."

A combination of factors could allow Birmingham City to win against QPR

A couple of factors could see Blues win all three points.

Firstly, Jordan James is an excellent asset to have at this level and considering he's only getting better at his age, it wouldn't be a surprise to see him make a real difference in the English capital.

They have other players who can also be a sizeable attacking threat.

And Rowett's arrival also spices things up ahead of this crucial clash.

With the experience he has, it wouldn't be a surprise to see his team get a result.