Birmingham v Nottingham Forest preview
Friday 17 November 2017 11:01, UK
Craig Gardner is a doubt for Birmingham's clash with Nottingham Forest at St Andrew's on Saturday.
The midfielder is nursing a calf complaint and will be assessed by the Blues ahead of the game. Maxime Colin is out until at least Christmas after tearing his hamstring against former club Brentford at the start of the month.
Goalkeeper David Stockdale (wrist) remains out but is recovering yet Carl Jenkinson (shoulder) is unavailable and Isaac Vassell is sidelined for the season after suffering a cruciate knee ligament injury last month.
Nottingham Forest boss Mark Warburton must consider whether or not to pitch Jamie Ward and Daryl Murphy into action. Both players lost World Cup play-offs, with Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland respectively, and Warburton wants to be sure they are mentally ready to go again.
Tendayi Darikwa joined the club's lengthy international roster by making his Zimbabwe debut during the same period and has proved his fitness. Chris Cohen and Danny Fox remain on the shelf with knee injuries.
Opta stats
Birmingham have won none of their last four league matches against Forest in the last two seasons (D2 L2) since a 3-1 win in December 2014.
Forest have won two of their last nine visits to St. Andrew's in all competitions (D3 L4).
Steve Cotterill has won his last three home league matches against Forest, all with different clubs - Burnley in November 2004 (1-0), Portsmouth in October 2010 (2-1) and Bristol City in October 2015 (2-0).
Jota has been involved in five goals (two goals, three assists) in his three Championship starts against Nottingham Forest, assisting two goals against them earlier this season for Brentford in a 4-3 defeat.
Birmingham have failed to score in four consecutive league matches - they haven't failed to net in five since November 2005 in the Premier League. Outside of the top-flight, their last such run of five goalless games in a row came in December 1993, with the fifth game in that run against Nottingham Forest.
Only games involving Hull City (58) have seen more goals than games involving Forest (51) in the Championship this season, while no team's games have seen fewer goals than Birmingham (33).
