Plymouth v Birmingham preview

Hunt: Loan extended

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Emile Mpenza will once again be missing for Plymouth, while Birmingham have Nicky Hunt available.

Pilgrims manager Paul Sturrock will chose between strikers Rory Fallon and Steven MacLean as former Belgium international Mpenza (hamstring) remains sidelined.

Sturrock's side suffered their second consecutive defeat in the 1-0 reverse at Doncaster on Saturday and host second-placed Birmingham without injured captain Karl Duguid.

Former Colchester midfielder Duguid is suffering from a calf strain and is likely to be replaced by Yoann Folly, who was included in Sturrock's starting XI at Doncaster.

Fit-again right-back David McNamee has returned to training on Monday but is not expected to feature in the squad on Tuesday night.

Birmingham team news

Defender Hunt will be available for Birmingham having extended his loan deal until 10th January.

The Bolton full-back's original one-month agreement expired after Saturday's 3-2 win over Watford but manager Alex McLeish has opted to keep him at St Andrews over the hectic festive period.

Fellow right-back Stuart Parnaby will battle it out with Hunt for a starting berth at Home Park having fully recovered from a hamstring problem but left-back Stephen Kelly (thigh) remains out.

Forward James McFadden faces around two weeks on the sidelines in order to rest a groin problem, while defenders David Murphy (groin) and Liam Ridgewell (illness) are battling to be fit.

Garry O'Connor (groin), Gary McSheffrey (knee) and Damien Johnson (back) continue to work their way back to full fitness after lengthy spells on the sidelines but are not ready to feature on Tuesday.

Cameron Jerome will hope to be rewarded with a starting berth in attack after two goals in as many games from the bench, although fellow strikers Kevin Phillips and Marcus Bent seem to have nailed down the forward places.