Bolton Wanderers vs Birmingham City. Sky Bet Championship.
University of Bolton StadiumAttendance21,097.
Tuesday 3 April 2018 21:55, UK
Bolton midfielder Darren Pratley could come into contention at home to Birmingham on Tuesday (kick-off 8pm) after missing the 2-1 defeat at Leeds because of a leg injury.
Josh Vela will hope to continue in midfield should Pratley miss out and Jan Kirchhoff will hope to face Birmingham after returning from a minor hamstring problem against Leeds.
Aaron Wilbraham will look to build on his substitute appearance against Leeds by making the starting line-up. On-loan Everton defender Antonee Robinson, an unused substitute for the United States in their win against Paraguay, did not feature at Elland Road but could come into contention against Birmingham. Nigerian forward Chinedu Obasi will also hope to feature as the Trotters host their relegation rivals.
Garry Monk will be looking to build on successive victories against Hull and Ipswich which have seen his Birmingham side climb out of the relegation zone. The Blues boss is likely to be without on-loan Southampton striker Sam Gallagher, who has a calf complaint, but midfielder Craig Gardner could come into contention following a hamstring injury which saw him miss the win against Ipswich.
Left-back Jonathan Grounds has not played since February because of injury and will find it hard to force his way back in after returning to fitness. Maxime Collin has successfully switched to left-back, with his more favoured spot on the right side of defence going to youngster Wes Harding.
Bolton have failed to score in any of their last four league games against Birmingham (D1 L3) since winning 1-0 in October 2014.
The Blues have won their last two away league trips to Bolton - they had won just one of their previous 23 before this current run.
Garry Monk won against Bolton at the Macron in September with Middlesbrough and could become the first manager to win twice away from home at the same opponent in a Championship season since Steve Evans in 2015/16 against Birmingham (with Rotherham and Leeds).
Bolton have kept clean sheets in each of their last five home league matches in April (W2 D3) since losing 2-1 to Middlesbrough in April 2016.
Craig Gardner has scored in three of his last four league starts against Bolton (three goals in total), including in his last match at the Macron in August 2010.
The Blues have lost their last four away league games, conceding 12 goals across those defeats. They haven't lost five in a row since October 2013.
