Coventry-Birmingham : Preview

Head-To-Head, Recent Form, Team News, and the Latest Betting Odds, ahead of Saturday's Coventry-Birmingham clash.

Head-To-Head: Birmingham did the double over Coventry City in their last season in the Championship in 2006/7 (And nicked our best player too!), and have won three of five fixtures since Coventry dropped down from the top flight. Overall, Birmingham have won 21 times against Coventry (19 in the league), Coventry have won fifteen (Thirteen in the league), with fourteen matches ending in a draw (Thirteen in the league).

This Season: In the reverse fixture at St. Andrews earlier this season, a Clinton Morrison goal was enough to give Coventry City a superb away victory. In front of a watching Sky Sports audience, the home side thought they had equalised when Westwood clawed a Queudrue effort off the line. But with TV cameras unable to prove one way or the other, and boss Alex McLeish big enough to admit he was unsure, Karren Brady, in her 'Sun' column - usually complete with jokes so old Stan Boardman wouldn't use them - became the only person in the country able to see it was a 'clear goal'.

Recent Form: Over the last eight matches, Coventry City are thirteenth in the current form table, while Birmingham - supposedly off form - are ninth. Coventry have won three, drawn one, and lost one of their last five home matches, while Birmingham have won two, drawn one, and won two of their last five away matches.

Team News: Leon McKenzie is expected to be re-called, probably at the expense of the impressive, but tired(!) Jordan Henderson. Kevin Phillips (Who seems to have become something of a super-sub this season, scoring more late goals than Coventry City have conceded!) is expected to be missing for the next few weeks for Birmingham thanks to hamstring knack.

Betting Odds: Ladbrokes make both Coventry and Birmingham 6/4 to win, with the draw at 11/5, while William Hill make the away side slight favourites, with Birmingham at 7/5, and Coventry at 8/5 (21/10 the draw).