Filed under: Birmingham, West Brom, Premier League, Football, Match Previews
PREMIER LEAGUE: ST ANDREW'S, SATURDAY MARCH 5, 2011. KICK-OFF: 1245 GMTFollow Birmingham v West Brom with our live minute-by-minute commentary
After the high of winning their first trophy in 48 years last weekend, the sobering prospect of a Premier League relegation battle now awaits Carling Cup winners Birmingham.
Having stunned Arsenal with Obafemi Martins' dramatic late winner at Wembley on Sunday, Alex McLeish's side must now refocus their attentions on their battle to beat the drop.
And, as six-pointers go, they don't come much bigger than Saturday's derby between Blues and West Brom with just a point and a place separating the two sides, who find themselves hovering just above the relegation zone.
At present it's advantage Birmingham with the St Andrew's club in 16th, boasting the added advantage of two games in hand over their rivals - and a home win on Saturday would go a long way to easing their fears of dropping down into the Championship.
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The Baggies can take heart from their 3-1 victory in this season's reverse fixture, however, and the Hawthorns outfit have certainly become tougher to beat since Roy Hodgson's arrival as manager, drawing their last three.
Hodgson is well aware those draws quickly need to start turning into victories if his team are to remain afloat, though, and a first win of his Albion reign - as well as spoiling their local rivals' cup celebrations - would be most welcome for him this weekend.
KEY MATCH-UP: Nikola Zigic v Jonas Olsson
Zigic is the man in form right now with four goals in his last five games and the giant Serb's 6ft 8ins frame seems likely to cause the Baggies' leaky defence problems. Olsson will be the man charged with the task of keeping the former Racing Santander man quiet and the Swede will be eager to impress after landing himself in hot water for smashing a framed picture in the Stoke tunnel after Monday's 1-1 draw with the Potters. At 6ft 4ins, Olsson is among the tallest defenders in the division, however he is prone to the occasional lapse in concentration, which will not have gone unnoticed in the Blues camp.
FORM GUIDE: Sunday's dramatic victory over Arsenal made it just one defeat in Birmingham's last eight games in all competitions, while West Brom have stopped the rot since Roberto Di Matteo's departure by drawing their last three.
ODDS: Birmingham 5-4, West Brom 9-4, Draw 9-4
BIRMINGHAM:
Birmingham midfielder Barry Ferguson bravely battled through an hour of last weekend's Carling Cup final triumph over Arsenal with a broken rib, manager McLeish has revealed.
Ferguson suffered the injury in a collision with Samir Nasri and he now faces a battle to be fit to face West Brom.
"It shows his pain threshold," said McLeish. "It's frightening but it shows the character of the guy to do that. He's a doubt for the weekend and Craig Gardner (thigh) is as well."
"I think it happened in a challenge with Nasri. He has taken a right bash in the ribs. It has been confirmed that there is a stress fracture and he is a doubt for the weekend.
"Ferguson has had this before in our time at Rangers and he took an injection into the ribs. It was administered with a big giant needle - not something I would fancy - which alleviates the pain. If he doesn't make it for the weekend, that could be administered in the next week or two."
Ferguson might be a hero at St Andrew's but he has been cast in the role of villain on Twitter by Jack Wilshere after the Gunners midfielder accused Ferguson of "slapping" Laurent Koscielny as Blues players celebrated Martins' 89th-minute match-winning goal, which arrived thanks to a horror mix-up between the Frenchman and goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.
Wilshere, 19, tweeted: "Well done to the BCFC player who slapped Koscielny on the head when they scored, very big of you!"
But McLeish has defended his player, insisting the online outburst amounts to "cyber bullying".
"It's not my world, twitter and all that stuff," said the manager. "Cyber bullying is not for me. I don't want to comment on it. We'll draw a line under it and move forward."
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