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

Relegation rivals Sheffield Wednesday and Birmingham City face off in a huge clash at the bottom end of the Championship on Saturday afternoon.

The two sides are in the relegation zone after tasting defeat in midweek and are locked level on points heading into this game at Hillsborough.

Match preview

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Wednesday were always likely to spend the campaign fighting for survival after being hit with a 12-point deduction, later reduced to six on appeal.

That has proved the case, the Owls finding themselves second from bottom with 29 games of their campaign played - one match fewer than Birmingham.

City were perhaps not expecting to be embroiled in a relegation dogfight, however, especially with Aitor Karanka - a man with experience of escaping the division the right way - placed in charge.

Less than a year on from his appointment, however, Karanka is now fighting to save his job following an 11-match winless run in the Championship, with seven of those ending in defeat.

The most recent of those losses came away to Millwall on Wednesday - Jed Wallace and Ben Thompson scoring for the home side in what was a comfortable victory at The Den.

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Wednesday also fell to defeat in midweek, going down 1-0 against Stoke City to a late goal from their former striker Steven Fletcher.

Both sides are now a point from safety in what is proving to be an entertaining battle at the bottom end of the division.

The one saving grace for Wednesday has been their home form, having won five on the spin at Hillsborough - not since August 2012 have they enjoyed a longer-such streak.

That includes a run of three successive clean sheets on home soil, and five in their last six. Birmingham, by comparison, have failed to score in three of their last five away games.

Sheffield Wednesday Championship form: LWWLWL

Birmingham City Championship form: LDDLLL

Team News

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Wednesday were without Massimo Luongo and Andre Green against Stoke and interim boss Neil Thompson is unsure whether either player will be back for Saturday's match.

Thompson may be tempted to make some changes on the back of the late loss last time out, which could mean recalls for Josh Windass and Elias Kachunga.

As for Birmingham, they went with Scott Hogan and Lukas Jutkiewicz in attack against Millwall after losing Sam Cosgrove to injury.

City, who have failed to score in eight of their last 11 matches, are almost certain to be without Cosgrove once again here.

Jonathan Leko and Ivan Sanchez will be hoping for a place in the XI after being named among the subs in midweek.

Sheffield Wednesday possible starting lineup: Westwood; Lees, Dunkley, Urhoghide; Harris, Shaw, Hutchinson, Bannan, Reach; Rhodes, Paterson

Birmingham City possible starting lineup: Etheridge; Valery, Dean, Friend, Pedersen; Harper, Sunjic; Leko, Halilovic, Bela; Hogan

We say: Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 Birmingham City

Both sides will be looking to respond to midweek defeats in this relegation six-pointer.

Birmingham are unbeaten in three successive away league games against Wednesday, but the home side have been impressive on home soil over the past couple of months.

Indeed, the Owls have won five home league games on the spin - as many as they did in their previous 26 - and we are backing them to come out on top this weekend.