Birmingham V Huddersfield at St Andrews Stadium : Match Preview

05 October 2012 15:01
Birmingham V Huddersfield - view commentary, squad, and statistics of the game live.

Clark to keep the faith against old club Birmingham boss Lee Clark will mull over keeping an unchanged side for a third successive match as he comes up against former employers Huddersfield at St Andrew's. It will be the first time Clark has come face-to-face with Town since his shock dismissal in February of last season, although he insists he holds no grudges. Blues' last home performance was a 5-0 defeat to Barnsley - the club's worst on home soil in the league since 1987 - but they have responded well since, triumphing 1-0 at Brighton before an unfortunate 2-1 defeat away to fellow high-fliers Cardiff. Right-back Will Packwood was forced off shortly after half-time in the Welsh capital nursing a back complaint but should be okay. Fellow defenders Stephen Carr (knee), Paul Caddis (shoulder), David Murphy (hamstring) and Pablo Ibanez (broken toe) all remain sidelined. The Terriers go into the encounter on the back of successive home defeats in the Championship. Jermaine Beckford and Joel Lynch will return to Huddersfield's squad. Striker Beckford was ineligible to play in the midweek defeat to his parent club Leicester, while defender Lynch has completed a three-game ban following his straight red card in the recent win at Sheffield Wednesday. Manager Simon Grayson must decide whether to recall Beckford in place of Sean Scannell, who partnered Lee Novak on Tuesday night, and put Lynch straight back into the starting line-up in preference to Anthony Gerrard or Peter Clarke. Huddersfield could also be boosted by the return of on-loan pair James Vaughan and Adam Hammill. Norwich striker Vaughan has missed the successive home defeats to Watford and Leicester due to a groin problem and Wolves winger Hammill has been out since the home win over Derby in mid-September with a knee injury.

Source: PA