Preview: Birmingham City vs Preston North End - prediction, team news, lineups

Both looking to end their respective campaigns of midtable mediocrity on a high note, Birmingham City and Preston North End lock horns at St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park in the Championship on Wednesday.

Blues secured a respectable point at the home of Hull City over the weekend, whilst the Lilywhites were defeated by relegation-threatened West Bromwich Albion in Lancashire.

Match preview

Ending a wretched four-match losing run on the road, Birmingham fought back to earn a share of the spoils at the MKM Stadium on Saturday, when Tomoki Iwata rifled home an equaliser from outside the box in the 77th minute.

Collecting four points from their past two second-tier contests, Blues are on course to finish a disappointing campaign on a run of positive results, given that the summer of 2025 nurtured ambitions of a promotion push.

For one reason or another, not even a top-six charge has transpired for Chris Davies's troops, who are currently occupying 14th place in the Championship standings, 12 points behind sixth-placed Hull.

As a result, Blues are one of the second-tier teams already looking ahead to next season, with 2025 arrival Phil Neumann impressing over recent matches, staking his claim for the centre-back spot alongside captain Christoph Klarer in 2026-27.

Birmingham have a pair of St Andrew's matches within the space of four days to conclude their Championship home schedule, with only Ipswich Town (1) and Premier League-bound Coventry City (2) losing fewer games in front of their own supporters this term.

© Imago / Focus Images

Preston's promising four-game unbeaten run (W2 D2) came to a grinding halt on Saturday afternoon at Deepdale, where West Brom extended their undefeated streak to an impressive eight matches.

Lilywhites head coach Paul Heckingbottom was highly critical of his team's fight and work rate following an uninspiring display against the Baggies, who won the contest courtesy of efforts from Josh Maja and Daryl Dike.

On a mission to avoid back-to-back defeats, Preston are sitting in 16th spot in the Championship table ahead of Wednesday's trip to the Second City, level on points with hosts Birmingham.

Winning just two of their nine away matches in 2026, the Lilywhites have struggled to pose a consistent threat on the road, however they managed a standout 2-1 success at the base of Charlton Athletic on April 11.

Whilst the Preston collective have nothing tangible to fight for during the remaining three fixtures, eight-goal attackers Alfie Devine, Lewis Dobbin and Milutin Osmajic are battling for the club's Golden Boot.

Birmingham City Championship form:

Preston North End Championship form:

Team News

© Imago

Birmingham welcomed Alex Cochrane back to the pitch at Hull after a troublesome ankle injury, with the left-back playing for the first time since New Year's Day.

As a result, Kai Wagner finally has competition for a place on the left side of Blues' defence, with Lee Buchanan (knee) still sidelined.

Marvin Ducksch returned to first-team duties over the weekend after his drinking driving charge, although Jay Stansfield and August Priske are the preferred forward pairing at the moment.

Managing just five appearances since his mid-season switch from Portsmouth, Callum Lang (shoulder) is currently on the Preston treatment table.

Last featuring against Blackburn Rovers on February 20, one-time Championship winner Jamal Lewis (thigh) is out for the remainder of the term.

Birmingham City possible starting lineup:

Beadle; Laird, Neumann, Klarer, Wagner; Solis, Paik, Vicente, Stansfield, Gray; Priske

Preston North End possible starting lineup:

Iversen; Storey, Gibson, Hughes; Offiah, Devine, Thompson, Small, Potts; Osmajic, Dobbin

We say: Birmingham City 1-0 Preston North End

On home soil and with the pressure off, Birmingham are looking to put on a show for their supporters against Preston.

The Lilywhites are low on confidence following the home defeat over the weekend, and it could be consecutive losses for the visitors.

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