Palace Match Preview

By Richard Williams
February 25 2005

Steve Bruce is faced with two changes to the Birmingham City line up on his second return to Selhurst Park with Emile Heskey suspended and Mario Melchiot failing to recover in time from a twisted ankle.

Bruce can welcome Salif Diao and Stan Lazaridis back from their injuries but neither are likely to feature in the starting eleven. Olivier Tebily who replaced Melchiot during the Liverpool game is expected to replace the Dutch international while Clinton Morrison has already been confirmed as Walter Pandiani’s strike partner.

“Clinton will be going back to the club where he made his name. He gave them really good service for three and a half years”.

This represents an important opportunity for the Republic of Ireland international who recently expressed his frustration at being omitted from the starting eleven despite his impressive pre Christmas goal scoring form. Morrison will be one of a number of players facing their old clubs as Julian Gray makes his first return to Selhurst Park while Andrew Johnson and Michael Hughes face their previous club.

Palace will be without Finnish international midfielder Aki Riihilahti who sustained a calf injury against Arsenal but defender Darren Powell is expected to shake off a slight concern with his thigh.

The reverse fixture at St Andrews saw a disappointing 1-0 defeat for Birmingham that came in a run in which the side struggled for goals, with Andrew Johnson scoring on his first return to St Andrews.

Victory for Birmingham could see them push into the top half of the table while Palace will look to edge further from the relegation zone and closer to Blackburn who lie just one place above them but six points ahead of them.

The squads for the game are:

Birmingham: Taylor, Melchiot, Tebily, Cunningham, Upson, Clapham, Pennant, Johnson, Clemence, Gray, Morrison, Pandiani, Blake, Vaesen, Anderton, Nafti, Lazaridis, Diao.

Crystal Palace: Kiraly, Boyce, Hall, Sorondo, Borrowdale, Granville, Powell, Routledge, Leigertwood, Hughes, Soares, Freedman, Johnson, Popovic Speroni, Lakis, Andrews.