Birmingham City vs Swansea City preview: Blues aim for first win since restart

In an incredibly tight play-off battle, Swansea City will be hoping they manage to pip others to the final spot, including their Welsh counter-parts Cardiff City. Steve Cooper's men have found themselves just four points away from the Bluebirds, who currently hold that elusive place, and a win this evening against Birmingham City will further the Swans' bid for a return to the Premier League after a year out of the 'big-time'.

Unfortunately for Birmingham, it seems the Blues are damned to another season in the Championship. Pep Clotet's side currently sit in 17th place, and defeat this evening could even see his team slip further into a fiery and unpredicatable relegation fight.

Team news

Birmingham will continue without Josh McEachran, as the midfielder is still recovering from a knee injury. The Blues face no new injury concerns, and former Swans' assistant manager Pep Clotet will be hoping club top-goalscorer Lukas Jutkiewicz can return to form, with the forward failing to hit the back of the net in his last seven Championship appearances.

With both Cardiff and Derby County hitting impressive form as we enter the business end of the season, Swansea know there is no room for error. However, they will have to brave it without both Ben Wilmot (knee) and Joe Rodon (ankle). As well as Ben Cabango, who misses out with a hernia.

Predicted line-ups

Birmingham City: Camp, Pedersen, Roberts, Clarke-Salter, Colin, Sunjic, Gardner, Crowley, Bela, Bellingham, Hogan.

Swansea: Woodman, Naughton, Guehi, Van der Hoorn, Bidwell, Fulton, Grimes, Ayew, Gallagher, Routledge, Brewster.

Managers thoughts

Swansea manager Steve Cooper wants his side to give it everything and more, saying:

”There is not long to go now, but I think a lot will happen in the games that are left.

“But we need to focus on Birmingham, we have to look after ourselves first and foremost.

“We have got to back the weekend win up with another one, because that is so important. We have to be really committed to that. We had the chance after Middlesbrough and did not back it up.

“If we can do that then we will see where it takes us.”

Speaking this week ahead of the fixture, head coach Pep Clotet had this to say:

”There are five games to go and we are looking for that win that will kind of give us that feeling of the job done. Unfortunately, we had that one bad game against Huddersfield and it kind of put away all the good things we did at West Brom and the second-half against Hull. We bounced back against Fulham in terms of that performance and we were within a few minutes of getting a result."

Head-to-head

The two sides first met on Christmas day in 1946, with Birmingham coming out victorious in a 3-1 win. Over history the Blues have had the measure of the Welsh side with nineteen wins, nine draws and nine losses.

However, the Midlands outfit have failed to defeat Swansea since 2013, with the Swans winning two of the last four fixtures.

The last meeting between the clubs was a 3-0 victory for Swansea earlier this season. Goals from Kyle Naughton, Bersant Celina and Borja Baston for the Swans in an impressive win.