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Birmingham and Wigan do battle at St. Andrews in what could be labelled a relegation six-pointer. Neither team have posted a point since mid-September having both lost their last four matches and both managers are fighting to keep their jobs.
Birmingham defender Johan Djourou will have a fitness test on his hamstring injury ahead of tomorrow's Barclays Premier League clash with Wigan at St Andrews.
Blues manager Steve Bruce admitted it was 'touch and go' whether the on-loan Arsenal defender will have recovered in time from the injury, which was suffered on international duty for Switzerland 10 days ago.
Winger Sebastian Larsson has shaken off the illness which forced him to miss last weekend's defeat to Manchester City but Bruce believes it is "too soon" for hernia victim Mikael Forssell to be considered despite scoring for the reserves on Monday.
Wigan striker Antoine Sibierski may be fit despite coming off with a shoulder problem against Portsmouth last week.
Manager Chris Hutchings also hopes winger Antonio Valencia (knee) and former Birmingham defender Mario Melchiot (thigh) are available.
Seb Larsson: It's important
Ex-Arsenal midfielder Larsson said: "We all know this is an important one. This sums up the Premier League, the difference between success and losing is very tight. Ourselves and Wigan are together in our own little section of the Premier League, if you want to divide up the division. And we always seem to do well against the sides we are directly competing with in the table. So a couple of wins could push us on, a couple of defeats could drag us into danger - that's why this game is so vital."
Birmingham have lost the last four in all competitions; three of which were in the Premier League against Manchester United (h), Blackburn (a) and Manchester City (a). While Wigan are battling to avoid a fifth successive Premier League defeat.
Teams
Team (from): Taylor, Kelly, Ridgewell, Djourou, Schmitz, Jaidi, Queudrue, Parnaby, Sadler, Larsson, Palacios, McSheffrey, Muamba, Nafti, Danns, Kapo, Jerome, Kingson, O'Connor, De Ridder.
Team (from): Kirkland, Melchiot, Granqvist, Bramble, Boyce, Kilbane, Koumas, Landzaat, Brown, Scharner, Valencia, Sibierski, Bent, Aghahowa, Skoko, Taylor, Pollitt, Olembe, Hall.
Eyefootball Premiership Predictor
Birmingham 0-1 Wigan
What a Premiership dog fight. But Wigan will come up trumps in this one. Underfire boss Steve Bruce has been consistently under pressure and this defeat could spell the end when Carson Yeung completes his takeover. Koumas, Sibierski and Valencia are all fantastic attacking midfielders, and will have enough presence to create chances in the absence of Emile Heskey.
Predction: 1-0 to Wigan
Goalscorer: Antoine Sibierski
Written by majicka
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