Preview: Hull City vs. Birmingham City

High-flying Hull City go into this weekend's Championship clash with Birmingham City in the knowledge that a draw could see them break into the top two.

Steve Bruce's side have been in impressive form, but were pegged back by a shock 4-1 defeat to Bolton Wanderers in their last league outing.

Lee Clark's men could use the points for very different reasons, going into the match languishing in 16th place, but they have a 2-0 victory over Peterborough United to build on.

New loan signing Shane Ferguson could feature for them in some capacity, with Clark expected to keep the faith in his strikeforce of Nikola Zigic and Peter Lovenkrands.

Hull's Paul McShane and Abdoulaye Faye could take up places on the bench after returning from injuries, while recent signing George Boyd is pushing for a full debut.

Recent form

Hull: WLWWWL

Birmingham: WWDLDW

Possible lineups

Hull: Stockdale, Chester, Hobbs, Bruce, Elmohamady, Brady, Evans, Meyler, Quinn, Koren, Gedo

Birmingham: Butland, Caddis, Davies, Caldwell, Hancox; Burke, Reilly, Spector, Elliott; Zigic, Lovenkrands

Sports Mole says: 2-0