Looking to tighten their grip on the third-tier title, Birmingham City will welcome League Two-bound Shrewsbury Town to St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park on Saturday afternoon in League One.
Blues will be desperate to put their visitors to the sword after a humbling afternoon at the Croud Meadow in November, whilst the Shrews are set to be under the stewardship of a third different manager in the space of five months.
Match preview
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After the final international pause of the 2024-25 campaign, Birmingham City are now staring a hectic schedule in the face between themselves and glory, with the Second City giants pencilled in for 11 games in 36 days, including an EFL Trophy final versus Peterborough United at Wembley Stadium.
Before Blues walk out in front of close to 50,000 Bluenoses at the national stadium on April 13, they must first navigate a quartet of League One fixtures, with revenge on the minds of Chris Davies's talented crop following a poor showing against Shrewsbury earlier in the campaign.
The lowly Shrews are one of only three teams in the third tier to tame the Birmingham beast this season, with the Shropshire side winning 3-2 in the reverse fixture during November, after which Saturday's hosts went on an 18-game unbeaten rampage to cement their status as title favourites.
Despite success over Blues last time out, Shrewsbury are unlikely to be confident of repeating the trick this time around considering Birmingham's exceptional record at St Andrew's, with Davies's men only losing to Premier League duo Fulham and Newcastle United at home this term across all competitions.
Heckled and jeered on a weekly basis by opposition supporters, Jay Stansfield is doing all he can on the pitch to silence the critics of his £20m price tag, with the England Under-21 international bagging 16 League One goals, meaning that he is in serious contention for the division's Golden Boot accolade.
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Just days after talking up next season and his long-term plans at the club, Gareth Ainsworth decided to jump ship from relegation-threatened Shrewsbury to Gillingham of League Two, meaning that Saturday's visitors to the West Midlands will welcome Michael Appleton into the managerial hotseat for the first time.
The former Blackpool boss will oversee the squad until the end of the campaign, one which is highly likely to conclude with demotion to the fourth tier during 2025-26, when the remit will be to bring the club back into League One - potentially under the stewardship of new owners.
Heading into their final nine matches of the third-tier term, Shrewsbury are rooted to the very bottom of the League One standings ahead of their daunting trip to the Second City, a mammoth 14 points behind Bristol Rovers in the relative safety of 20th position at this stage.
As mentioned previously, the visitors produced a shock success over Birmingham in the reverse fixture back in November, but no one of a Shrews persuasion will be holding their breath for a similar result this weekend, especially considering that their side are in the midst of an eight-game winless run.
Shrewsbury's most recent trip to St Andrew's for a competitive fixture was all the way back in August 2006, when a late strike from super Swede Sebastian Larsson secured progression into the second round of the EFL Cup for a Birmingham side boasting the likes of Fabrice Muamba and Mikael Forssell.
Team News
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Initially selected for England Under-21s by Lee Carsley this month, Stansfield returned from international duty early due to a slight injury, and it remains to be seen whether the striker features this weekend.
Alfie May is likely to start if Birmingham's record signing is unavailable, whilst club icon Lukas Jutkiewicz should provide a different option off the bench in the absence of Lyndon Dykes.
There was a considerable scare for Bluenoses from the AFC World Cup qualifiers over the international window, with Paik Seung-ho picking up a knock, although the South Korean has been filmed training back in England this week.
Despite conceding twice at home to relegation rivals Burton Albion last time out, Shrewsbury should stick with a centre-back pairing of Josh Feeney and Aaron Pierre in front of goalkeeper Jamal Blackman.
A number of first-team players will be eyeing increased game time under new coach Appleton, including Bradford City loanee Vadaine Oliver.
Birmingham City possible starting lineup:
Allsop; Sampsted, Klarer, Davies, Cochrane; Iwata, Leonard, Anderson, Dowell, Hansson; Stansfield
Shrewsbury Town possible starting lineup:
Blackman; Hoole, Feeney, Pierre, Benning; Gape, Gilliead, Wheeler, Perry, Shipley; Lloyd
We say: Birmingham City 2-0 Shrewsbury Town
None of Birmingham's third-tier foes have been able to earn victory at St Andrew's yet, and it is hard to imagine a crisis-stricken Shrewsbury bucking that trend on Saturday afternoon.
Even without Stansfield, Blues should be too strong for the Shrews, with the hosts looking to put the game to bed as quickly as possible ahead of a hectic April schedule.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Carter White
