Birmingham City will hope to build on their Midlands derby success over Wolverhampton Wanderers by beating Blackburn Rovers at St Andrew's tomorrow night.
Demarai Gray scored a fine winner for the Blues, and they now sit just two points off the top half of the table and five points behind Rovers.
Birmingham City
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Birmingham manager Gary Rowett has done a brilliant job in turning around their previously miserable home form and making it into one of the club's strengths.
When previous boss Lee Clark was sacked in October, Birmingham had won just one home match in 24 and heavily relied on their patchy away record.
Although they are still inconsistent away from St Andrew's, losing four of their last five, the Blues have won nine home games and lost just six all season, and sit safely in 14th place in the table.
Wolves, who were the form team of the division, were the latest side to suffer at the old stadium in a narrow 2-1 loss thanks to Gray's solo stunner, showing that Birmingham are not content to let their season fizzle out.
Rowett's men have their destiny in their own hands as they face teams around them such as Blackburn, Reading, Charlton Athletic and Bolton Wanderers in their run-in.
However, Blackburn will feel that they can stifle the Blues if they stop Clayton Donaldson, who is Birmingham's top scorer this season. He is the only Blues player to have reached double figures in this campaign, with 19 goals.
Recent form: DDLWLW
Blackburn Rovers
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Blackburn will be have an eye on next year, where they hope to launch a promotion push, in the final five games of their season.
Manager Gary Bowyer has done well since he arrived two years ago, and they could finish in their current position of 10th for the second consecutive campaign.
Rovers have been a solid top-half side all season, but they haven't quite been able to put together a run of form to see them join the hunt for the playoffs.
That is a source of frustration for both the fans and the club, and they will demand to be competing at the top in 2015-16.
Rovers' season is in danger of petering out after their FA Cup run came to an end in the quarter-finals against Liverpool last week, while last time out they drew 0-0 with Reading at the Madejski Stadium. However, they appear to be in decent form with four wins from their last seven games.
Away from home they have a solid record and have won six times, which makes them the 11th best Championship team on their travels.
This record has picked up recently as they have earned seven points from their last nine away from Ewood Park, which includes wins against Charlton Athletic and Leeds United.
Recent form: WWLLWD
Recent form (all competitions): WLLWLD
Team News
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Gary Rowett has no new injury concerns and can pick from a fully fit squad tomorrow night.
Defender Paul Robinson will miss a second game in a row due to suspension, and his place is expected to be taken again by Rob Kiernan.
The centre-back was a doubt for the match after he tweaked his hamstring over the weekend, but the injury is not as bad as first feared.
Rowett could select Jonathan Spector instead of Kiernan, although the American is still fighting an ankle injury, while Diego Fabbrini is also expected to play despite suffering cramp against Wolves.
Blackburn boss Gary Bowyer has a decision to make in attack, as Rudy Gestede is pushing for a recall after recovering from a recent injury.
Jay Spearing, Tommy Spurr and Chris Brown will all hope to keep their places after they were recalled to the starting XI against Reading.
Birmingham City possible starting lineup:
Randolph, Caddis, Kiernan, Morrison, Grounds, Fabbrini, Davis, Tesche, Cotterill, Gray, Donaldson.
Blackburn Rovers possible starting lineup:
Eastwood, Henley, Kilgallon, Spurr, Olsson, Cairney, Williamson, Spearing, Marshall, Rhodes, Gestede.
Head To Head
Blackburn marginally have the better record over Birmingham, and claimed their 45th win in this fixture earlier in the season when Ben Marshall struck the decisive goal in a 1-0 victory.
Last year, the pair played out two high-scoring games with Blackburn winning 4-2 at St Andrew's and Birmingham winning 3-2 in the reverse fixture.
The home team generally dominates games between the pair though, as the away side hadn't won in 16 matches prior to Birmingham's win at Ewood Park last year.
We say: Birmingham City 2-1 Blackburn Rovers
Although both sides are drifting towards the end of the season, Birmingham will be confident after their win over Wolves last time out.
Their home form is currently strong, and we predict that they will extend that against a Rovers side who are settled in the top half.
No Data Analysis info
