Birmingham City travel to Pride Park this Saturday to face a Derby County side sitting in the relegation zone. The Blues will be aiming to secure their first away victory of the Championship season and move up from 15th place.
Tony Mowbray's side have taken seven points from their opening six games. Their recent form shows a single win, two draws and two losses, with their last outing a 2-1 defeat at Norwich. Carlos Vicente scored Birmingham's consolation that day, assisted by Liam Millar.
Derby have had a difficult start, losing four of their last five matches. They were beaten 1-0 by West Brom in their most recent fixture at Pride Park. Their only win in that sequence was a 2-0 victory at Portsmouth on the first of September.
Team news and selection
Birmingham will be without midfielder Jhon Solís, who remains sidelined. Mowbray is expected to keep faith with a core of the side that started at Carrow Road, with goalkeeper James Beadle protected by a back four of Bright Osayi-Samuel, Paul Neumann, Christoph Klarer and Kristoffer Lund. The manager has options in attack, with Jay Stansfield, Liam Millar and Andreas Priske all starting against Norwich.
Derby manager Paul Warne fielded a 4-2-3-1 formation last time out, with Sam Szmodics leading the line. Key players include midfielder Alex Mowatt and defender Eiran Cashin.
The recent record
The last meeting between these sides was in March, when Derby won 1-0 at Pride Park. Birmingham will be keen to avenge that result and improve a record that has seen them concede eight goals while scoring eight themselves this campaign.
With both teams needing points for different reasons, this Midlands clash promises a competitive edge. The match kicks off at 12:30pm UK time on Saturday, 12 September.
