Aiming to prevent their winless run from entering the double digits, Stoke City make the short trip down the West Midlands to face Birmingham City in the Championship on Boxing Day.
Blues secured a share of the spoils in a dramatic six-goal thriller at Plymouth Argyle on Saturday, while the Potters played out a goalless draw with strugglers Millwall.
Match preview
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After losing out to league leaders Leicester City at St Andrew's last Monday, Birmingham City made their final Championship outing of 2023 on Saturday afternoon, rocking up to Home Park in Devon to face a Plymouth side who had lost head coach Steven Schumacher to Stoke earlier in the week.
Blues possessed a 2-1 lead at the half-time interval thanks to strikes from Wales international Jordan James and former Exeter City forward Jay Stansfield, but the harsh dismissal of Krystian Bielik in the 48th minute really turned the tide in the contest, with the Green Army eventually netting a 86th-minute equaliser through Morgan Whittaker.
Despite managing just two wins from his opening 12 matches at the helm, Wayne Rooney was greeted by a round of applause from nearly 2,000 Bluenoses following a share of the spoils at Plymouth last time out, with the Birmingham fanbase beginning to see the manager's training ground methods translating to performances on second-tier matchdays.
The Second City club currently occupy 18th position in the Championship standings at the halfway point of the campaign, holding a comforting seven-point advantage over 22nd-placed Queens Park Rangers, although Blues are a sizeable nine points behind Liam Rosenior's Hull City in sixth.
Just the Humberside Tigers and Enzo Maresca's Foxes have bested Birmingham at their St Andrew's turf this term, but Rooney's men have only managed to win one of their five home contests since the Manchester United legend replaced John Eustace - a scrappy 2-1 success over relegation-threatened Sheffield Wednesday.
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After two games under the interim stewardship of Paul Gallagher following Alex Neil's sacking earlier in December, the bet365 Stadium warmly welcomed ex-Plymouth boss Schumacher to the Stoke City managerial hotseat, but the Liverpudlian was unable to guide his new club to a first win in nine matches.
Joe Edwards's Millwall - who themselves are in the midst of a worrying winless run - were kind opposition for the 39-year-old's first contest in charge, but the Potters could not breach the net of Matija Sarkic in a goalless draw, with Jack Bonham having to deny Aidomo Emakhu in the final stages to prevent a narrow away victory.
Overall, Schumacher was pleased with his side's efforts in Staffordshire on Saturday afternoon, with the point gained against the Lions leaving the Potters in 19th place, four points ahead of Marti Cifuentes's QPR and with the opportunity to leapfrog Birmingham on Boxing Day.
Stoke's last victory in the Championship arrived on their travels in impressive fashion, as Neil's Potters passed a Teesside test at Middlesbrough with flying colours on October 28, when first-half goals from Michael Rose and summer arrival Mehdi Leris secured maximum points for City.
The Potters have not tasted success in their last five visits to St Andrew's, and Stoke fans will have to go back over a decade for memories of their latest win in B9, with Peter Crouch and Marko Arnautovic getting on the scoresheet during a fourth-round EFL Cup clash in October 2013.
Team News
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Birmingham City are awaiting news on the availability of left-back Lee Buchanan, who was stretchered off and taken to hospital following a nasty collision with teammate Stansfield at Plymouth.
Buchanan's replacement Emmanuel Longelo did a commendable job of keeping Pilgrims playmaker Whittaker relatively quiet, and the 22-year-old is likely to start his first game since October on Boxing Day.
Tyler Roberts was included in a Blues matchday squad for the first time since the season opener at Swansea City in August, with the former Leeds United attacker set for game time between now and the New Year.
Bielik will be suspended for three matches after picking up a red card at Home Park, meaning Bacuna could drop deeper to play alongside James and Ivan Sunjic in the hosts' engine room.
Stoke are set to make some alterations to their attacking ranks after a goalless draw against Millwall, with Junior Tchamadeu and Joon-Ho Bae pushing for starts following impressive cameos off the bench.
The Potters will be able to select Ben Pearson once again after the midfielder missed the draws with West Bromwich Albion and the Lions due to yellow card accumulation.
Ben Wilmot remains sidelined until the middle of January due to a knee injury, meaning Rose and Luke McNally are set to be the centre-back pairing for Stoke once again.
Birmingham City possible starting lineup:
Ruddy; Aiwu, Sanderson, Roberts, Longelo; Sunjic, James, Bacuna; Miyoshi, Dembele, Stansfield
Stoke City possible starting lineup:
Bonham; Hoever, McNally, Rose, Gooch; Burger, Laurent, Bae; Tchamadeu, Vidigal, Mmaee
We say: Birmingham City 2-1 Stoke City
Birmingham have improved offensively during the last few matches and could display their progression against a Stoke side who are in the midst of a woeful winless run.
The Potters looked more organised under the stewardship of Schumacher last time out, but we are predicting a Boxing Day defeat for the visitors at St Andrew's.
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Top tip
Carter White
