MX23RW : Thursday, May 23 07:28:06| >> :600:124075:124075:
[monks data]
Birmingham logo
Championship
Sep 27, 2014 at 3pm UK
 
Fulham logo

1-2

Cotterill (38')
FT(HT: 1-0)
Hoogland (63'), Rodallega (71')

Preview: Birmingham City vs. Fulham

Sports Mole previews Saturday's Championship clash between out-of-form Birmingham City and bottom-of-the-table Fulham at St Andrew's.

The turbulent Felix Magath era is over at Fulham, but the troubled times do not yet seem to be over for the club going into Saturday's match against Birmingham City at St Andrew's.

A 5-3 defeat to league leaders Nottingham Forest was the final nail in the coffin for Magath, although caretaker boss Kit Symons did not do his cause for the permanent job any good with defeat to Blackburn Rovers in his first game.

The Cottagers have since picked up a maiden victory under the Welshman, edging past League One side Doncaster Rovers in the League Cup on Tuesday, but the club are still without a win in the Championship this season.

Having dropped down from the Premier League last term, Fulham have plummeted straight to the bottom of the table with a meagre one point from their opening eight matches.

If that form doesn't dramatically improve quickly then fans must begin fearing back-to-back relegations and life in the third tier next season.

Much will depend on the identity of the man who takes the job at Craven Cottage, and most fans will be happy with reports that Chris Hughton has held positive talks with the club.

He is unlikely to be in place in time for this weekend's match, however, leaving Symons once again at the helm as the team look to claim three league points at the ninth time of asking.

To do that, they must improve defensively having shipped a league-high 19 goals already this season, with their goal difference of minus 13 also the worst in the division.

The visitors will be without Shaun Hutchinson on Saturday as he continues to serve his suspension, but Scott Parker is expected to return to the starting lineup having come off the bench in midweek.

Birmingham may be six points better off than Fulham already, but their form going into this match is not much better than the Cottagers'.

The Blues are without a win in seven matches in all competitions, while they have won just once in the league all season - and that run stretches back to one in their last 14 if you include the end of the last campaign.

Home form was the major issue for Lee Clark's side last season and, although they broke a 10-month winless streak at St Andrew's at the start of the current campaign, subsequent dropped points to Ipswich Town, Leeds United and Sheffield Wednesday will not have convinced the fans that their home troubles are over.

Their last outing saw them pick up a respectable 2-2 draw against in-form Norwich City, although even that may feel like dropped points after they threw away a two-goal lead in three second-half minutes.

Clark may opt to name the same side this weekend, with Clayton Donaldson continuing to lead the line for the hosts.

Recent form

Birmingham: DLDLLD

Fulham: WLLLDW

Possible starting lineups

Birmingham: Randolph; Spector, Edgar, Robinson, Grounds; Davis, Caddis, Reilly; Cotterill, Donaldson, Gray

Fulham: Bettinelli; Hoogland, Bodurov, Burn, Amorebieta; Christensen, Parker, Ruiz, Stafylidis; McCormack, Rodallega

Sports Mole says: 1-2


ID:178840: cacheID:178840:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:6475:No Data Analysis info

Previews by email

Click here to get Sports Mole's daily email of previews and predictions for every major game!


Restore Data
Share this article now:
Chris Hughton, Manager of Norwich City on the touchline during the Barclays Premier League match between Swansea City and Norwich City at Liberty Stadium on March 29, 2014
Read Next:
Hughton 'holds positive talks with Fulham'
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
CLeicester CityLeicester463141189414897
3Leeds UnitedLeeds462791081433890
4Southampton462691187632487
5West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom4621121370472375
6Norwich CityNorwich4621101579641573
7Hull City461913146860870
8Middlesbrough46209177162969
9Coventry CityCoventry4617131670591164
10Preston North EndPreston46189195667-1163
11Bristol City461711185351262
12Cardiff CityCardiff46195225370-1762
13Millwall461611194555-1059
14Swansea CitySwansea461512195965-657
15Watford461317166161056
16Sunderland46168225254-256
17Stoke CityStoke461511204960-1156
18Queens Park RangersQPR461511204758-1156
19Blackburn RoversBlackburn461411216074-1453
20Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds46158234468-2453
21Plymouth ArgylePlymouth461312215970-1151
RBirmingham CityBirmingham461311225065-1550
RHuddersfield TownHuddersfield46918194877-2945
RRotherham UnitedRotherham46512293789-5227


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!