Preview: Birmingham City vs. Bournemouth - prediction, team news, lineups

Birmingham City welcome Bournemouth to St Andrew's on Saturday afternoon looking to bounce back from their surprise defeat to Wycombe Wanderers.

Despite recording just one victory from their last six Championship outings, the Cherries head into this contest sitting in fifth position in the table.

Match preview

Despite putting together a nine-match unbeaten streak, Jason Tindall has regularly spoken about the need for Bournemouth to turn draws into victories as the season progresses.

Although the Cherries still occupy a playoff spot, Tindall will re-emphasise that message to his players after they lost 2-0 to Sheffield Wednesday earlier this week.

Bournemouth were on the receiving end of a debatable penalty decision which led to Steve Cook being sent off, but this was another game where their attack failed to impress.

Just four goals have been scored during their last half-a-dozen fixtures, with none of the squad scoring more than three times in the second tier this season.

While Josh King has been brought back into the first-team picture, the Norway international has now gone 338 minutes without scoring a goal in the league.

A lack of firepower in defence has also been Birmingham's undoing in recent months, something which was again an issue against Wycombe in midweek.

Aitor Karanka would have expected Blues to build on their 1-0 advantage against the division's minnows, but they were left stunned by the Chairboys' second-half comeback.

Recording seven points from their last four games will still be deemed respectable by Karanka, although he will acknowledge that his players are under pressure to improve in this contest.

While Birmingham still sit just four points adrift of the playoffs, a second successive defeat could leave the club closer to the drop zone during the international break.

Birmingham City Championship form: LLDWWL

Bournemouth Championship form: DDDWDL

Team News

Karanka will almost certainly make alterations to his Birmingham XI after their failure to defeat Wycombe.

Riley McGree and Jonathan Leko are likely to be involved after their appearances from the substitutes' bench during that match.

Maikel Kieftenbeld may also be provided with an opportunity in midfield, potentially at the expense of Ivan Sunjic.

Cook's absence from the Bournemouth defence may lead to Jack Simpson coming into the back three.

Lewis Cook and Dominic Solanke could be recalled by Tindall, while Junior Stanislas is also in contention for a place in the final third.

Birmingham City possible starting lineup: Etheridge; Colin, Roberts, Dean, Pedersen; Kieftenbeld, San Jose, McGree; Leko, Jutkiewicz, Bela

Bournemouth possible starting lineup: Begovic; Simpson, Mepham, Kelly; Smith, Lerma, Cook, Rico; Brooks, Solanke, Groeneveld

We say: Birmingham City 1-1 Bournemouth

Everything points to a low-scoring fixture taking place in the West Midlands this weekend. While the visitors will consider themselves to be favourites, they may struggle to break down a Blues side who will be more focused on defence than attack.

Top betting tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting an away win in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Away Win:data