Isaiah Jones starts: The predicted Middlesbrough XI to face Birmingham City on Wednesday | OneFootball

Leo Percovich is set to lead Middlesbrough out against Birmingham City in temporary charge on Wednesday evening.

Percovich will be assisted by Craig Liddle, Mark Tinkler and Lee Cattermole, in aiming to lift Boro out of the Championship relegation zone before a new manager is appointed.

John Eustace’s Birmingham City have picked up enormously in the last month or so and would have been very pleased to take a point from Sheffield United on Saturday.

The Blues have taken eight points from their last four games but could be sucked back into the early season relegation battle if they taste defeat on Teesside.

Here, we are predicting three changes from the Boro side that lost 1-0 at Coventry City on Saturday…

It turned out to be a very surprising call from Chris Wilder to drop Isaiah Jones and Ryan Giles for Tommy Smith and Marc Bola in the trip to the CBS Arena.

Both players are competent wing backs at Championship level but are far more defensively minded than the players that they came in to replace.

Quiz: Did Middlesbrough win, draw or lose the last time they played at these 18 stadiums?

1 of 18

Oakwell

Win Draw Loss

The other alteration is Paddy McNair stepping in for Anfernee Dijksteel, the latter has performed admirably since coming in over the last few weeks, but in a match like this Boro might pick more on character than ability.

McNair has the leadership qualities and steely determination to put in an impressive performance when the club need him most, and the Northern Ireland international could help to deal with the Blues’ physical threats.

A change of system seems unlikely for now but could be something that is introduced once a new manager is appointed.