The battle to avoid relegation from the Championship is heating up and with just seven games left to play teams near the bottom of the league table are starting to look nervously over their shoulders.
Birmingham look to be safe from dropping into League One, but a poor run of form has left Rotherham just five points above the bottom three and in desperate need of a win to ease their growing fears.
Birmingham City
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This hasn't been a season that will be fondly remembered by Birmingham fans, but they can start to prepare for another year in the Championship.
It would take a disastrous collapse for them to be caught up in the relegation scrap as they sit 12 points clear of the bottom three.
Throughout the opening months of the campaign it did seem that a drop down to League One was not out of the realms of possibility and former manager Lee Clark was sacked for guiding the team to two wins in their opening 12 games.
A humiliating 8-0 defeat against Bournemouth followed soon after, but the appointment of Gary Rowett has provided the club with much-needed stability.
Their form has been rather patchy in recent weeks, though, and they will be looking to get back to winning ways after suffering a defeat to Cardiff City just before the international break.
Recent form: LWWDDL
Rotherham United
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It was always going to be a tough season for Rotherham after winning promotion from League One, but with just over a month left to go they are well placed to retain their Championship status.
The Millers are currently 21st in the table and five points clear of Wigan Athletic, although their recent form may be giving manager Steve Evans some cause for concern.
They have lost their previous three league games, with six defeats in total from the beginning of March.
It did seem that their losing run would come to an end against Sheffield Wednesday in their last outing, but two goals in stoppage time from the Owls saw them fall to a damaging 3-2 defeat.
Recent form: WLWLLL
Team News
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Italian midfielder Diego Fabbrini could make his debut for the Blues after completing an emergency loan switch from Watford.
Jonathan Spector is struggling with an Achilles injury and is unlikely to be risked, so Michael Morrison should take his place.
Rotherham have no new injury problems, but Arsenal loanee Damian Martinez may not keep his place in goal after conceding three on his debut.
However, they will have to make do without Iceland international Kari Arnason, who is forced to sit the game out with a ban.
Birmingham City possible starting lineup:
Randolph, Caddis, Morrison, Kiernan, Grounds, Cotterill, Gleeson, Davis, Tesche, Gray, Donaldson
Rotherham United possible starting lineup:
Collin, Hunt, Broadfoot, Morgan, Lafferty, Wilson, Frecklington, Smallwood, Pringle, Derbyshire, Sammon
Head To Head
There was just one goal when these teams met in the reverse fixture last November, with a second-half strike from Clayton Donaldson giving Birmingham a 1-0 win at the New York Stadium.
It proved to be a familiar result for the Blues, who have won 14 of their previous 26 games against Rotherham, with the Reds winning just five of those meetings.
Over the years there have been plenty of goals in this fixture, but it could be a low-scoring affair on Friday as each of these teams have averaged just over one strike per game in the Championship this season.
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Hit play below to see what the Sports Mole Sofa had to say about this encounter:
We say: Birmingham 2-2 Rotherham
Although Birmingham are in better form than their opponents, their home record is poor and they have shipped plenty of goals at St Andrew's this season. Rotherham have also looked shaky at the back, but they have scored in five of their last six games so for those reasons we think that the points will be shared.
No Data Analysis info
