Birmingham City will be looking to make it five games unbeaten when they welcome Chris Hughton's Nottingham Forest to St Andrews on Wednesday. 

The Blues come into the game off the back of a potential safety securing victory over fellow relegation strugglers Rotherham United, thanks to a late goal from Harlee Dean.  

Meanwhile, their opponents Forest come into the game after a disappointing 2-0 home defeat to Huddersfield Town. 

Ahead of the encounter, Lee Bowyer's side sit in 19th place, with the Reds three places ahead in 16th with one point separating the sides. 

Team news

Scott Hogan returned to action at the weekend after an injury and will be pushing to start.

Attacking midfielder Alen Halilovic will miss the game with an ankle injury, with fellow midfielder Jon Toral missing for the rest of the season with a hamstring problem. 

Meanwhile for the Reds, despite returning to training this week, defender Tobias Figueiredo will miss the game against the West Midlands outfit.

Forest will continue to be without winger Joe Lolley after he had an operation on his hamstring injury.

Harry Arter remains a long term absentee with an ongoing groin problem. 

Predicted lineups

Birmingham City (3-4-2-1): 

Etheridge; Roberts, Dean, Pedersen, Colin, Sunjic, Gardner, Seddon, Sanchez, Leko, Jutkiewicz. 

Nottingham Forest (4-2-3-1): 

Samba; Christie, Worrall, McKenna, Blackett, Yates, Garner, Ameobi, Krovinovic, Mighten, Murray. 

Ones to watch

Lukas Jutkiewicz - Birmingham City

The target man is one who has benefitted from the arrival of new boss Bowyer. He has scored three goals in his first six games under the new oss and has proved to be a vital figure in the fight to stay in the Sky Bet Championship. 

His hold up play has allowed other attacking players such as Ivan Sanchez and Jonathan Leko to have a greater impact on the team and help fire them up the table. 

Embed from Getty Images

Filip Krovinovic - Nottingham Forest

After joining on loan from Benfica in January, the Croatian midfielder has instantly become a fan favourite. Creativity in the middle of the park is what the Reds were lacking and the 25-year-old has brought that in an abundance. 

He always looks to play the forward pass, which is what Forest were really lacking. He can play the ball through the eye of a needle and will rarely misplace a pass. His ability will hopefully be the key to unlocking the Birmingham defence on Wednesday. 

Previous meetings

The two sides last met on Boxing Day with the sides playing out a 0-0 draw at the City Ground. 

The last meeting at St Andrews saw the Blues claim all three points in a 2-1 victory. Tiago Silva gave Forest an early lead, before goals from Hogan and Kristian Pedersen secured victory.

Last time out... 

How to watch

Due to the current national lockdown, no fans will be in attendance at St Andrews. This means the game is available on iFollow through Birmingham and Forest's respective club websites, with passes being priced at £10. 

The game kicks off at 19:45 BST on Wednesday 19 April 2021.