Wolverhampton V Birmingham at Molineux Stadium : Match Preview

07 December 2012 12:02
Wolverhampton V Birmingham - view commentary, squad, and statistics of the game live.


Doumbia raring to go

Tongo Doumbia makes a timely return to boost Wolves ahead of their derby clash against midlands rivals Birmingham.

The midfielder has been rested for the club's last two games having struggled with fatigue, even returning to France, but he is back in the fold for the Saturday evening visit of Blues.

His comeback is a welcome one after Dave Edwards was ruled out for between six to eight weeks with a hamstring tear sustained during last weekend's 4-1 win at Bristol City.

Doumbia is now expected to replace Edwards in midfield, with that possibly being the only change after Wanderers ended their nine-match winless run at Ashton Gate to ease the pressure on manager Stale Solbakken.

Jamie O'Hara is back in full training after three hernia operations which have kept him out of action since March, although he is not yet ready for first-team football.

Razak Boukari, Georg Margreitter, Slawomir Peszko, Steven Mouyokolo, Wayne Hennessey, Stephen Hunt and George Elokobi also remain unavailable.

Ravel Morrison is expected to be fit for Birmingham.

The on-loan midfielder was forced off at half-time in last Friday's 3-2 win over Middlesbrough nursing a dead leg.

But he does face a battle for his position with replacement Wade Elliott coming on to score the second goal in Blues' victory, while Papa Bouba Diop was again on form for the club's Under-21 side in midweek.

One player who will miss the 5:20pm kick-off, however, is Darren Ambrose having injured his knee in training this week, although the midfielder has only been a fringe player of late.

Full-backs David Murphy and Stephen Carr (both knee) are long-term absentees while striker Akwasi Asante (hamstring) remains sidelined.

Source: PA