Birmingham City vs Burton Albion. The FA Cup Third Round.
St. Andrew's StadiumAttendance7,623.
Friday 5 January 2018 14:50, UK
Che Adams will not start Birmingham's FA Cup third-round clash with Burton despite recovering from his latest hamstring problem.
The 21-year-old forward has battled persistent hamstring issues this term, so manager Steve Cotterill is determined to ease him back into action.
Goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak will miss out having failed to return to full training. David Stockdale should continue in goal for Blues, with Cotterill able to select from something approaching full strength.
Burton boss Nigel Clough expects to have an unchanged squad to choose from for the third-round tie. Full-back John Brayford and centre-half Ben Turner may not have trained in midweek but both players will be available for selection on Saturday.
Clough has said he will not make wholesale changes to his team as he looks to maintain the momentum his side have built over the festive period, winning three and drawing one of their five Championship fixtures. Stephen Warnock, Jamie Allen, Sean Scannell and Marvin Sordell are among those players who could come into contention for recalls. Long-term absentee Liam Boyce (knee) should be the only man unavailable.
This will be the first competitive cup meeting between these sides, with the other three meetings coming in the Championship - Burton winning all three.
Indeed, the Brewers have scored exactly twice in all three league meetings with the Blues only managing one goal in return.
Birmingham are looking to make the fourth round for the first time since 2014/15, with the Blues losing in the third round in each of their last two seasons.
The Brewers haven't won an FA Cup match since a second round replay against Fleetwood in December 2013, losing all four since.
