Early Birmingham City team news ahead of Norwich, what will the Blues XI look like tomorrow? | OneFootball

Birmingham City picked up a crucial win on Saturday when they visited Sheffield Wednesday in a battle between two clubs in the relegation zone of the Championship.

The Blues had won just once in 13 games before their visit to South Yorkshire, but Scott Hogan’s second half strike gave the visitors all three points and saw them rise to 21st.

Their chances were assisted by a 50th minute red card for Owls midfielder Liam Shaw, but they may have been helped even more by Harlee Dean’s inspirational pre-match video message.

Whilst they were battling fellow strugglers at the weekend, tomorrow night represents a whole different test as league leaders Norwich City visit St Andrew’s.

Daniel Farke’s outfit are flying right now having won three matches on the spin and have a lot of dangerous players, including Teemu Pukki and Emi Buendia.

Aitor Karanka reverted back to a 4-3-3 formation with wingers at the weekend as opposed to a 3-5-2, and it would be a surprise if there was any change from that winning system despite the Canaries being more of an attacking threat than Birmingham’s most recent opposition.

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There’s no new injury worries for Karanka either – Sam Cosgrove is the only absentee with the manager saying he will be back in ‘one or two weeks‘.

Because the Blues have four games in 11 days to contend with coming up, the Spaniard might seek to rotate the pack with the likes of Jonathan Leko and Alen Halilovic in the wings waiting for a start.

But Karanka will likely not change much as Birmingham seek back-to-back wins for the first time since early December.

Predicted Birmingham XI (4-3-3): Etheridge; Colin, Dean, Clarke-Salter, Pedersen; Sunjic, Gardner, Harper; Sanchez, Hogan, Bela.