Preview: West Bromwich Albion vs Birmingham City - prediction, team news, lineups

Looking to forget their away-day failures, West Bromwich Albion welcome local rivals Birmingham City to The Hawthorns for a Championship battle on Wednesday night.

The Baggies suffered a difficult afternoon at the base of Coventry City on the weekend, whilst Blues produced another statement performance at their Second City fortress.

Match preview

Arriving back to action following November's international pause, West Bromwich Albion extended their losing run on the road to a sobering five matches on Saturday afternoon, when the visitors initially seemed set to collect a shock result at the home of Coventry.

Doubling his goal tally to four with a brilliant brace in the East Midlands last time out, Norway international Aune Heggebo fired the Baggies 2-0 ahead after 32 minutes, but strikes from Josh Eccles, Ellis Simms and Victor Torp completed a turnaround success for Frank Lampard's men.

Winning just one of their last six second-tier battles, West Brom have dropped down to a lowly 17th position in the Championship standings ahead of Wednesday's hosting of fellow West Midlanders Birmingham, four points behind Hull City in the lowest of the playoff spots.

On the contrary to their woeful away record, Ryan Mason's men have fared relatively well at The Hawthorns in recent times and are currently enjoying a four-match unbeaten run (W2 D2) at the venue, beating relegation-threatened Oxford United in the Black Country earlier this month.

An appearance-maker off the bench for the Baggies in recent matches, Krystian Bielik could pit his wits against the side that he used to captain on Wednesday night, with the Poland international featuring in over 100 games for Birmingham across three separate spells.

Just two days after the club unveiled plans for a new 62,000-seater stadium, Birmingham produced another first-rate performance at their current home, with the St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park crowd treated to the battering of basement dwellers Norwich City on Saturday.

After enduring a slow start to his Second City career owing to a number of injury setbacks, former Germany international Marvin Ducksch has officially landed in the Championship, with the 31-year-old bagging a brace for Blues in the hammering of the Canaries.

Following their latest St Andrew's triumph, Chris Davies's men are now within touching distance of the top-six conversation, with Wednesday night's visitors to The Hawthorns sitting in ninth, a single point back from Hull and just six points behind second-placed Middlesbrough.

Securing nine points and scoring 12 goals across their last three home matches, Blues are now hellbent on sorting out their away form as they look to mount a push for a top-two finish, with Birmingham ranking 21st in the division based on points collected on the road.

Possessing top-flight quality and trickery which could be key to unlocking the Albion defence this week, Demarai Gray put an unsuccessful international break with Jamaica to the back of his mind to shine for Davies's side on the weekend, providing two assists in the Norwich win.

West Bromwich Albion Championship form:

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Birmingham City Championship form:

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Team News

After earning a second yellow card in the second half at Coventry on the weekend, West Brom midfielder Jayson Molumby is suspended for Wednesday night.

As a result, Alex Mowatt is likely to be joined by Ousmane Diakite in the engine room for the Baggies, who will be searching for back-to-back home wins.

Scoring three goals across his last two appearances, Heggebo is continuing to do enough to keep Josh Maja out of the starting XI.

Birmingham had the luxury of resting key players during the latter stages of the Norwich victory, meaning that key man Ducksch should be ready to cause Albion headaches from minute one.

That being said, there are question marks over the availability of academy graduate Gray, who went down the tunnel with a member of Blues' medical team shortly after being substituted on the weekend.

Marc Leonard is set to partner Tommy Doyle in the midfield for the visitors, with the pairing looking to run rings around Diakite in the middle of the park.

West Bromwich Albion possible starting lineup:

Griffiths; Campbell, Phillips, Mepham, Taylor; Diakite, Mowatt; Johnston, Price, Grant; Heggebo

Birmingham City possible starting lineup:

Beadle; Iwata, Klarer, Neumann, Cochrane; Leonard, Doyle; Roberts, Stansfield, Gray; Ducksch