St Andrew's: Home of Birmingham City(credit:
Wikipedia)
Birmingham City defender Roger Johnson is expected to be fit to face Sunderland on Saturday. (kick-off 15.00 BST)
Johnson suffered a concussion during last weekend’s draw at Blackburn Rovers but looks set to remain in the starting XI for this crucial game for relegation-threatened Blues.
The hosts have doubts over David Bentley and Nikola Zigic after both sat out last weekend’s game with groin injuries, while a hamstring injury could rule out Jean Beausejour.
But definitely absent are Martin Jiranek (toe) and Obafemi Martins (groin), who join Scott Dann (hamstring) and James McFadden (knee) on the sidelines.
Sunderland, meanwhile, are awaiting on the fitness of Sulley Muntari (calf) and Kieran Richardson (ankle).
However, they are definitely without defensive trio Titus Bramble (knee), Anton Ferdinand (hamstring) and John Mensah (groin), while a knee problem continues to sideline Craig Gordon.
And the Black Cats have also learned that not only will forward Fraizer Campbell miss the remainder of this season, he could also miss a large part of the 2011/12 campaign after suffering a setback in his recovery from a cruciate knee ligament injury.
Last Premier League games:
Blackburn Rovers 1 BIRMINGHAM CITY 1: Foster, Carr, Johnson (Davies 46), Parnaby, Ridgewell, Larsson, Gardner, Ferguson, Bowyer, Jerome, Phillips. Not used: Doyle, Murphy, Derbyshire, Fahey, Hleb, Mutch.
SUNDERLAND 2 West Brom 3: Mignolet, Onuoha, Mensah (Ferdinand 12, Sessegnon 78), Turner, Bardsley, Elmohamady, Malbranque, Cattermole, Richardson (Zenden 46), Welbeck, Gyan. Not used: Gordon, Henderson, Muntari, Colback.