Birmingham V Wolverhampton at St Andrews Stadium : Match Preview

31 March 2013 12:31
Birmingham V Wolverhampton - view commentary, squad, and statistics of the game live.


Blues to wait on duo

Birmingham will assess Keith Fahey and Chris Burke ahead of Monday's derby encounter at home to Wolves.

Midfielder Fahey made his first start for the club since October in Good Friday's stunning 4-0 demolition of promotion-chasing Crystal Palace but was forced off midway through the second half carrying a knock.

Winger Burke, meanwhile, missed out altogether at Selhurst Park due to an ankle injury picked up in training.

Fahey's fitness aside, manager Lee Clark will be hard pushed to make any changes to his starting XI following the impressive display at Palace, the Blues' third successive victory.

Jonathan Spector failed to overcome an ankle problem of his own in time to feature and will again be monitored, although Marlon King, Stephen Carr, David Murphy and Will Packwood all remain sidelined.

Wolves boss Dean Saunders will carefully consider his options ahead of the derby.

Wanderers have had just 48 hours of recovery time since the dramatic 3-2 win over Middlesbrough, with Stephen Hunt one of a number of players struggling to be fit in time.

"He got cramp at the end and has only got a couple of days to recover," Saunders told Wolves' official website.

"(Players) get knocks and dead legs and they can't shrug them off in time. When it's three or four days and you nick a day on someone then fair enough, but not when it's two days."

Elsewhere, defender Stephen Ward is pushing for a return to the starting line-up, after coming on as a late substitute on Saturday following suspension.

Carl Ikeme (hand), Bakary Sako (hamstring) and Dave Edwards (metatarsal) are all out, while recent loan signings Nouha Dicko and Marian Kello are pushing for debuts.

Source: PA