Birmingham City have been one of the in-form sides in the Championship since they crashed out of the Europa League and now manager Chris Hughton will be looking for a further three points when they host Portsmouth on Tuesday (match prices – Birmingham 4/6, draw 13/5, Portsmouth 9/2).
Blues have been frantically playing catch-up after their journey in Europe came to an end but, despite a hectic schedule, the West Midlands outfit have been climbing the Championship table with great affect.
Birmingham were held to a goalless draw in a bitterly cold encounter with Southampton at St Andrew’s on Saturday despite having some great chances to win the game, especially when the visitors went down to 10-men with the sending off of Danny Fox.
Hughton will be looking for a far more clinical effort from his highly attacking side who have managed to score three or more goal against Leeds United, Sheffield United and Watford in recent weeks.
Blues were without Nikola Zigic (5/1 first goalscorer) for their stalemate with Southampton, and his return could spark goals for the home side, after he scored an impressive four goals at Elland Road in his last outing.
The Serbian striker picked up a knock in the 4-1 win over Leeds but could make a return for Birmingham and he will look to cause plenty of problems for the Portsmouth defence.
As for Pompey their financial problems off the field seem to be never ending and reports on Monday have suggested the players have not been paid their wages for January.
Portsmouth fans will be hoping the ongoing troubles behind the scenes will not affect the players on the pitch but it’s hard to see how they wouldn’t.
Fortunately the south-coast outfit have 10 points between themselves and the relegation zone but they will be determined to make sure that gap does not get any smaller in the coming weeks.
Manager Michael Appleton saw his side put in an impressive performance in their last outing, with a 3-0 away victory over Peterborough thanks to a brace from Erik Huseklepp (10/1 first goalscorer).
The Norwegian playmaker has been a key figure for his side but the fact he is the club?s joint leading goalscorer with five in the league tells its own story.
Despite struggling for goals in the striking department, the midfield with David Norris and former Stoke City star Liam Lawrence will cause problems for Blues, in what will be an interesting midfield battle.
Pompey have some important games coming up against teams around them in the league with Ipswich Town and Barnsley on the horizon.
Appleton will be determined to cause an upset on Tuesday night but they might have one eye on more winnable games in the coming weeks.
Birmingham (6/1 Championship outright) are in fine form and it’s hard to the see them not winning this one at St Andrew’s, so expect Pompey to get the Blues on another cold night in the Midlands.
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