Nottingham Forest vs Birmingham City. Sky Bet Championship.
The City GroundAttendance23,296.
Friday 2 March 2018 17:04, UK
Daryl Murphy could to the Nottingham Forest side to face Birmingham after recovering from illness.
The veteran striker, who hasn't featured in their last two games and missed the 5-2 win at QPR last week, is expected to return to Aitor Karanka's squad.
Eric Lichaj is still missing for Forest through suspension and David Vaughan and remains sidelined, while Jack Hobbs is pushing for a return.
Maikel Kieftenbeld is back in contention for Birmingham following his two-game suspension for picking up 10 yellow cards.
David Davis (knee) remains unavailable and Isaac Vassell is a long-term absentee for under-pressure boss Steve Cotterill. The Blues have lost four games on the spin in the Championship.
Nottingham Forest haven't won back to back home league games against Birmingham since December 1999 (a run of five).
The Blues have kept a clean sheet in one of their last 18 league visits to the City Ground, a goalless draw in October 2001.
Aitor Karanka has never lost against Birmingham in the Championship (P6 W2 D4 L0).
Only Bolton (9) have won fewer away Championship points than Birmingham this season (10).
Nottingham Forest scored as many goals in their last match against QPR - a 5-2 victory - as they had in their previous 12 Championship matches combined.
Birmingham haven't lost five consecutive league matches without scoring since November 2005 when they were in the Premier League.
It was a massive win for Nottingham Forest at QPR last week, and to score five goals would have been a huge morale boost for Aitor Karanka and Co. You feel like one more win will be enough now to allay any concerns of slipping towards the bottom three.
Birmingham are great opposition for Forest right now. They are in dreadful form having lost their last four and are right back in the relegation zone. After Saturday I think it will be five.
David Prutton predicts: 1-0 (9/2 with Sky Bet)
