Birmingham City urge fans to protest peacefully ahead of planned demonstration at Stoke game

Birmingham City have urged their fans to protest peacefully ahead of a planned demonstration during tonight's clash with Sheffield United, live on Sky Sports.

Fans are planning to protest against owners Birmingham Sports Holdings Ltd, led by Chinese businessman Paul Suen, and their handling of the club.

Birmingham are currently 17th in the Championship and fans are unhappy at the delay in repairs to St Andrew's which has seen the stadium remain partly closed for much of the season. There is also a feeling among supporters that there is a lack of transparency over the club's ownership structure.

Protests against BSHL have taken place throughout the season but have increased in recent weeks.

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Birmingham: Think of other fans' safety when protesting

A club statement released on Friday, said: "The Club understands the frustrations felt by sections of the fanbase and supports the right to freedom of expression and peaceful protest.

"The support shown for Lee Bowyer and the team in recent weeks has been commendable, but we implore that if you choose to protest it continues in this way and does not adversely affect the football being played on the pitch.

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"Whilst the large majority of recent demonstrations have remained nonviolent and supportive of the players, we have seen a number of incidents in recent weeks that we do not condone.

"A small number of fans made their way on to the lower tiers of the Kop during our game with Barnsley, which is still unsafe to host spectators. Two female stewards were assaulted by spectators at this fixture. During the Peterborough game, a number of minor incidents with stewards were also reported.

"Anti-social behaviour was seen by both sets of supporters during our away fixture with Derby County, with four arrests. Videos of seats being thrown across the supporter divide have circulated on social media, and the Club does not tolerate this behaviour and will be working with Derbyshire Police to source evidence and issue banning orders to home and away fans.

"We ask that potential demonstrations do not affect the 90 minutes of football, your safety, the safety of other spectators or the safety of our staff inside St. Andrew's.

"We welcome hearing your thoughts about the Club and we hope you begin to see improvements around St. Andrew's in the coming months.

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Team news

Birmingham remain without a host of players for the visit of Sheffield United. Manchester United loanee Tahith Chong is out with a groin injury while Troy Deeney is still unavailable with a thigh problem.

Taylor Richards' ankle issue is also likely to keep him out for three more weeks despite his return to training. Gary Gardner suffered an ankle injury in the 2-2 draw with Derby but is expected to be fit.

Rhian Brewster is set for a spell out for Sheffield United with a hamstring injury. The striker suffered the issue in the win over Peterborough with the damage described as significant.

Morgan Gibbs-White has returned to Bramall Lane after injury but will miss out on Friday. The Wolves loanee has missed the last four games but has returned to training. Iliman Ndiaye also came off against Posh with fatigue but is expected to be fit.