Swansea City will be looking to continue their ascent up the Championship table when they take on Birmingham City at St. Andrew's Trillion Trophy Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Swans have won back-to-back games to climb into 15th place, while Birmingham are four points and four places worse off after going seven games without a victory.

Match preview

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Swansea may have received many plaudits for their style of play in the early stages of Russell Martin's tenure, but the results were rather underwhelming.

After winning just one of their opening eight games, though, the Welsh side have since collected 10 points from the last 15 on offer to move within four points of the playoffs.

Last weekend's 3-0 win over bitter rivals Cardiff City may well prove to be an early turning point in Swansea's season, having followed that up with an impressive win in midweek.

City recovered from a first-minute setback against automatic promotion-chasing West Bromwich Albion thanks to goals from Joel Piroe and Jamie Paterson at the Liberty Stadium.

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The two games won by Swansea this week is as many as they managed in their previous 12, though not since February - when Steve Cooper was in charge - have they won three in a row.

They will be confident of keeping that momentum going against an out-of-form Birmingham side with just three points to their name from the last 21 up for grabs.

Lee Bowyer's side did at least manage to snap a three-game losing run with a goalless draw at Huddersfield Town on Wednesday in a game that saw the Terriers twice hit the post.

However, the Blues remain without a win since September 10 and have now failed to score in six successive games for the first time since March 1989.

Team News

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Martin made just one change to Swansea's starting lineup between the wins over Cardiff and West Brom, with Ben Cabango coming in for the not-fully-fit Ryan Manning.

Ryan Bennett managed to play a full part despite picking up a knock against the Bluebirds, while Olivier Ntcham again had to settle for an appearance from the substitutes' bench.

With this the third game in a week, Martin may be tempted to freshen things up, but at the same time he will be a little reluctant to tweak a winning formula.

Paterson seems certain to start up top, having been involved in eight goals in his last six league games (four goals and four assists).

Likewise, Birmingham will surely make a change on the back of their last match, even if a draw at Huddersfield can be considered a positive point.

Riley McGree and Jordan Graham were handed their first starts of the season in midweek and will be hopeful of retaining their places in the XI on Saturday.

Troy Deeney has mainly had to settle for a back-up role but, on the back of another goalless game for his side, this could be a good chance to get him involved from the beginning.

Birmingham City possible starting lineup:
Sarkic; Sanderson, Roberts, Friend; Graham, Gardner, McGree, Sunjic, Pedersen; Chong, Deeney

Swansea City possible starting lineup:
Hamer; Bennett, Naughton, Cabango; Laird, Smith, Grimes, Bidwell; Ntcham, Paterson; Piroe

We say: Birmingham City 0-0 Swansea City

Birmingham were 1-0 winners when these sides last met in April and are seeking back-to-back wins in this fixture for the first time since January 1992.

The Swans have momentum on their side, whereas Birmingham have not picked up a win or scored a goal since September, but we are backing the hosts to claim a point this weekend.

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