New Birmingham City boss Harry Redknapp begins his reign with a derby against Steve Bruce's Aston Villa at Villa Park.

Struggling Birmingham head to their city rivals following the resignation of Gianfranco Zola as manager on Monday, which preceded Redknapp's appointment the following day.

The home side will be without in-form top scorer Jonathan Kodjia, who was shown a red card for a kick at Fulham's Ryan Fredericks in his side's 3-1 defeat at Craven Cottage on Monday.

Fit-again Gabby Agbonlahor is likely to start, in what will be welcome news for Villa fans. The 30-year-old striker has a fine derby record against Birmingham since joining Villa in 2005 and could bring valuable experience to the side who search for their fourth league win on the bounce.

Scott Hogan is also available after recovering from an ankle injury. The January singing scored in both of his two previous meetings with Birmingham this season with former club Brentford.

Villa continue to monitor the fitness of Neil Taylor, who missed the previous two games with a groin strain.

Birmingham may call upon reserve goalkeeper Adam Legzdins, who hasn't started for the Blues in three months.

He played the second half of his team's 2-0 home defeat by Burton on Monday to replace injured Tomasz Kuszczak, who picked up a knock when he blocked a Luke Varney shot.

Top scorer Lukas Jutkiewicz is likely to keep his place in the starting line-up, having returned from a hamstring injury to play in Zola's final game in charge.

Villans boss Bruce admits their visitors will be a much more difficult proposition with Redknapp in the opposing dugout.

After Nottingham Forest beat Reading on Saturday, Birmingham find themselves 21st in the table, one place and two points above the relegation zone.

Bruce believes bringing in Redknapp gives Birmingham a better chance of survival as the 70-year-old will reignite confidence in Birmingham's players through his experience and know-how.

"Of course it is more difficult for us," said Bruce at his pre-match press conference.

"In Harry - the most experienced British manager out there - they have made a very, very good appointment. You can see he still has marvellous enthusiasm for it, even at his age.

"Certainly he'll breed a bit of confidence and belief back into the players at Birmingham, he is wonderfully experienced. We never want to see managers losing their jobs but in his appointment it has added a bit of spice. With his know-how they might be a different proposition.

"He couldn't have wished for a better start. He'll be confident he'll get them a win to keep them in the division. Not on Sunday."

Redknapp took the job on Tuesday but he has been pleased with the work he has done with his squad in training and hopes they can translate that into the match on Sunday.

"They've been good, the lads have been excellent, the training pitches are fantastic, that's the most important thing, I have been surprised how good the pitches are," said Redknapp.

"The players have been great, they have worked hard and shown a good attitude.

"We have just tried to get back to basics, really, nothing clever. We have spent a lot of time on shape and pattern of play, what we want to do when we get the ball. We have worked on corners, set-plays with them, we are as ready as we can be."