Preview: Birmingham City vs Blackburn Rovers - prediction, team news, lineups

Looking to prove that they are not on the metaphorical beach following the end of their playoff ambitions, Birmingham City host Blackburn Rovers in the Championship on Friday.

Blues produced another insipid away performance at Derby County last time out, whilst the relegation-threatened Rovers frustrated Premier League-chasing Middlesbrough at Ewood Park.

Match preview

Following an encouraging eight-game unbeaten league run (W5 D3) spanning across January and February, Birmingham City have picked up just a single win from their past six Championship fixtures, all-but ending their top-six dreams.

The nail in Blues' playoff coffin arrived prior to the international break at Pride Park, where an out-of-sorts and out-of-shape Chris Davies side failed to register a shot on target, with a single Rhian Brewster goal winning the contest for Derby.

After a mini-revival of their away fortunes at the beginning of 2026, three straight losses on the road by a combined scoreline of 5-0 have shoved Birmingham towards midtable mediocrity this season - barring an exceptional run of victories between now and May 2.

Blues are currently occupying a respectable 11th position in the Championship standings, although loftier heights were advertised by the club's ownership after a season of destroying the EFL points record in League One.

Losing just two of their 19 home matches this season, Birmingham are undoubtedly a better side in front of their Bluenose faithful, however, Davies's men have won only three of their past 10 Championship contests at St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park.

Back at Ewood Park with his tail between his legs following an unsuccessful World Cup playoff semi-final at the helm of Northern Ireland, Michael O'Neill can now fully focus on guiding Blackburn Rovers to Championship safety with seven matches remaining.

The former Premier League champions picked up a pair of promising results prior to the international pause to boost their chances of survival, winning at top-two hopefuls Millwall before sharing the points at home with second-placed Middlesbrough.

Losing just one of their most recent quartet of second-tier battles, Blackburn are sitting in 19th spot in the Championship standings ahead of Friday's crucial trip to the Second City, possessing a four-point buffer over Leicester City in 22nd.

Rovers have experienced mixed fortunes on the road under the tutelage of O'Neill, with defeats at Derby and fellow relegation candidates Oxford United sandwiched between standout successes at Queens Park Rangers and Millwall.

Friday's visitors have a plethora of Birmingham alumni looking to make their mark once again at St Andrew's, including Blues academy graduate Nathan Redmond, who joined Blackburn Rovers as a free agent during the international break.

Birmingham City Championship form:

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Blackburn Rovers Championship form:

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Team News

Birmingham boss Davies has confirmed that neither Kai Wagner (collarbone) or Alex Cochrane (ankle) are available over the Easter weekend.

As a result, Ethan Laird could be asked to fill in at left-back, as he did impressively during the home win over QPR last month.

Davies's botched wing-back experiment involving Ibrahim Osman went down like a lead balloon at Derby, with Blues surely reverting to their trusted 4-2-3-1 formation on Friday.

Blackburn's fight for survival is being hindered by a mounting injury list, with Sondre Tronstad (knee) and Ryan Hedges (leg) sidelined for the remainder of the season.

An ex-Real Madrid academy talent, Andri Gudjohnsen is out of action for the Rovers because of a thigh strain.

Birmingham City possible starting lineup:

Beadle; Iwata, Klarer, Robinson, Laird; Solis, Paik, Roberts, Ducksch, Gray; Stansfield

Blackburn Rovers possible starting lineup:

Toth; Atcheson; McLoughlin, Cashin; Alebiosu, Gardner-Hickman, Forshaw, Ribeiro; Morishita, Baradji, Jorgensen

We say: Birmingham City 1-0 Blackburn Rovers

With their playoff dreams dead and buried, Birmingham's squad are playing for spots in the club's plans past the summer, as well as the future of head coach Davies.

Blackburn are still embroiled in the relegation dogfight and could suffer a narrow defeat on Friday.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.