' MATCH THREAD: BIRMINGHAM v CARDIFF ' MATCH THREAD '

CARDIFF CITY v BIRMINGHAM
Championship
Friday, 18 December, 19:45
St Andrews


Team

Marshall; Peltier, Connolly, Morrison, Malone; Pilkington, Gunnarsson, Ralls, Ameobi; Watt, Jones

Subs: Moore, Manga, Fabio, Whittingham, O'Keefe, Noone, Mason



Around 700 Cardiff are expected to travel to this live on sky match.

18/12/15

Birmingham will be without David Cotterill, Clayton Donaldson and Paul Robinson with Jonathan Grounds looking doubtful while
Cardiff have No new injury concerns

You can buy tickets up until 3pm from Cardiff City Ticket Office

" UPDATED DAILY "



17/12/2015

CARDIFF CITY

Team News

Cardiff manager Russell Slade hopes to name an unchanged team after the Bluebirds' last-gasp 3-2 win over Brentford on Tuesday night.

Slade reported "one or two little problems" after the midweek victory and must wait to see if the short turnaround scuppers his plan to send out the same side at St Andrew's.

Kenwyne Jones and on-loan Tony Watt came up with the goals against Brentford and Slade will want the strike pair to continue their blossoming partnership after starting the last four games together.

Five-goal Joe Mason, who has made way in recent weeks, is fit to take his place on the bench after being troubled by a virus and a sore back.

' BIRMINGHAM '

David Cotterill (knee) and Paul Robinson (thigh) were due to return to training on Thursday but neither will be fit to face Cardiff.

Brum have won only 1 of the last 9 games and have failed to score in 6.

Cardiff City once again go in to this game, with Russell Slade able to pick from a strong squad



Latest News



Possible Lineups

Cardiff City

01 Marshall
02 Peltier
04 Morrison
16 Connolly
03 Fabio
11 Noone
17 Gunnarsson
08 Ralls
13 Pilkington
09 Jones
33 Watt


Birmingham

29 Kuszczak
02 Eardley
28 Morrison
23 Spector
03 Grounds
08 Gleeson
06 Kieftenbeld
19 Maghoma
22 Shinnie
07 Gray
15 Vaughan


The Opposition



Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.[4] They compete in the Football League Championship, the second tier of league football in England.

As Small Heath, they played in the Football Alliance before becoming founder members and first ever champions of the Football League Second Division. The most successful period in their history was in the 1950s and early 1960s. They achieved their highest finishing position of sixth in the First Division in the 1955–56 season and reached the 1956 FA Cup Final, progressed to the final of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1960 and 1961, and won their first major trophy, the League Cup, in 1963, beating Aston Villa 3–1 on aggregate. They won the latter competition for the second time in 2011. They have played in the top tier of English football for the majority of their history.[5] Their longest period spent outside the top division, between 1986 and 2002, included two brief spells in the third tier of the English League, during which time they twice won the Football League Trophy.

St Andrew's has been their home ground since 1906. They have a long-standing and fierce rivalry with Aston Villa, their nearest neighbours, with whom they play the Second City derby. The club's nickname is Blues, due to the colour of their kit, and their fans are known as Bluenoses.


2015/16 Latest Results

Cardiff

TUE 15 DEC 2015 - CHAMPIONSHIP Cardiff 3 - 2 Brentford
SAT 12 DEC 2015 - CHAMPIONSHIP Cardiff 2 - 2 Sheff Wed
SAT 5 DEC 2015 - CHAMPIONSHIP Bolton 2 - 3 Cardiff
SAT 28 NOV 2015 - CHAMPIONSHIP Cardiff 2 - 2 Burnley


Birmingham

SAT 12 DEC 2015 - CHAMPIONSHIP Middlesbrough 0 - 0 Birmingham
SAT 5 DEC 2015 - CHAMPIONSHIP Birmingham 0 - 2 Huddersfield
SAT 28 NOV 2015 - CHAMPIONSHIP Brighton 2 - 1 Birmingham
SAT 21 NOV 2015 - CHAMPIONSHIP Birmingham 0 - 1 Charlton


Last 5 meetings

2014/2015 Sat 21 Mar Cardiff City 2 - 0 Birmingham C. Championship
2014/2015 Sat 08 Nov Birmingham C. 0 - 0 Cardiff City Championship
2012/2013 Tue 01 Jan Birmingham C. 0 - 1 Cardiff City Championship
2012/2013 Tue 02 Oct Cardiff City 2 - 1 Birmingham C. Championship
2011/2012 Sun 25 Mar Birmingham C. 1 - 1 Cardiff City Championship


Previous Highlights




Match Odds

Cardiff 19/10
Draw 2/1
Birmingham 29/20


St Andrews



Key facts

Club: Birmingham City FC
Opening: 1906
Capacity: 30,009 seats

History and description

St. Andrew’s Stadium opened on the 26th of December 1906 with a league match between Birmingham City and Middlesbrough. The stadium consisted of one covered main stand and open terraces on the other sides, with an estimated capacity of 75,000 spectators.

Small improvements were made in the 1930s, mainly by increasing cover, and a record attendance was set on the 11th of March 1939 when 66,844 fans visited an FA Cup match against Everton.

The stadium got heavily damaged in the Second World War, but got soon after rebuilt.

St. Andrew’s Stadium got further redeveloped in the 1950s and 1960s, first with the construction of a new main stand in the early 1950s, then with another new stand at the Railway End, and finally with the erection of new roofs over the Kop and Tilton Road end.

No changes were made in the following two decades, and by the late 1980s the stadium had slowly fallen into disrepair. Capacity had furthermore been decreased to just 26,000 due to safety measures.

In the early 1990s, Birmingham City therefore embarked on a redevelopment program, which started with the demolition of the Kop and Tilton Road terraces. Two new all-seater stands were built in their place.

Works were completed in 1999 with the opening of a new stand at the Railway End.

In the mid 2000s, Birmingham City was involved in plans to replace St. Andrew’s with a 55,000-seater multi-purpose stadium, however these plans never materialised.


Tickets

Available to current Season Ticket Holders and Gold / Junior Bluebird Members only

General Ticket Prices
Adults: £20.00
Senior Citizens over 65: £15.00
*Students: £15.00
*13-18yrs: £10.00
*U13’s: £5.00

Disabled Allocations
Disabled (Ambulant + Wheelchair): relevant age band
Carer: free of charge

Additional Information
*All U15’s must be accompanied by an adult.
*All students must provide valid NUS identification to gain entry at the turnstiles.

Tickets on sale
9am on Monday, 30th November
0845 345 1400
eticketing.co.uk/cardiffcity


Guess the Score / Attendance

Post your predicted score/attendance below

3-1 City.

2-2

1-0 to the bluebirds :bluescarf

Birmingham 3-1 Cardiff City

I wasn't far off last night with my 3-1 prediction, but the Brum game I'm going with Annis 2-2, Annis knows his football.

Brum 1 City 2

Birmingham have now not won in five games, but have showed bottle with two draws away from home this week.

The Blues need to start scoring goals again and with Clayton Donaldson out, that is proving tricky.

Cardiff have their own goal threat in Tony Watt who has already scored twice since arriving from Charlton.

The Bluebirds are one place below the playoffs and one place above Birmingham.

Brum have won only 1 of the last 9 games and have failed to score in 6.

Cardiff City will go 5th if they beat Birmingham on Friday, ahead of Burnley's and Ipswich's games on Saturday.

A defeat for Cardiff City could see them fall as low as 9th place by the end of the weekend, and four points off the play-offs.

Cardiff City will go 5th if they beat Birmingham on Friday, ahead of Burnley's and Ipswich's games on Saturday.

Sounds good to me Ned

Score draw.

In the last five games, this is how Birmingham and Cardiff City compare in stats

Possesion (out of 500%)

Birmingham - 208% (average 41.6% per match)
Cardiff City - 215% (average 43% per match)

Shots

Birmingham - 75 (average 15 per match)
Cardiff City - 74 (average 14.8 per match)

Shots on target

Birmingham - 22 (average 4.4 per match)
Cardiff City - 30 (average 6 per match)

Fouls

Birmingham - 45 (average 9 per match)
Cardiff City - 51 (average 10.2 per match)

Corners

Birmingham - 35 (average 7 per match)
Cardiff City - 23 (average 4.6 per match)

Goals for

Birmingham - Two (average 0.4 per match)
Cardiff City - Ten (average 2 per match)

Goals against

Birmingham - Six (average 1.2 per match)
Cardiff City - Ten (average 2 per match)

Points

Birmingham - Two (average 0.4 per match)
Cardiff City - Eight (average 1.6 per match)

Cardiff City will go 5th if they beat Birmingham on Friday, ahead of Burnley's and Ipswich's games on Saturday.

Sounds good to me Ned

Only just noticed Annis, shocks me we're in this position but if we can be in the top six on Christmas Day then maybe it'll give the players a huge lift

Gary Rowett has urged his Birmingham City side to play with the same positivity against Cardiff on Friday as they did in their previous two matches.

Those two excellent performances brought well-deserved draws at Middlesbrough and Preston and confirmation that Blues remain highly effective away from home.


However, if anything the visit of Cardiff could be even more tricky given Blues’ struggles in front of their own supporters.

Not only have they only won three league games at home all season - they haven’t scored at St Andrew’s in their last four matches - a run of nearly six-and-a-half hours without a goal.

Cardiff manager Russell Slade hopes to name an unchanged team after the Bluebirds' last-gasp 3-2 win over Brentford on Tuesday night.

Slade reported "one or two little problems" after the midweek victory and must wait to see if the short turnaround scuppers his plan to send out the same side at St Andrew's.

Kenwyne Jones and on-loan Tony Watt came up with the goals against Brentford and Slade will want the strike pair to continue their blossoming partnership after starting the last four games together.

Five-goal Joe Mason, who has made way in recent weeks, is fit to take his place on the bench after being troubled by a virus and a sore back.

You can buy tickets up until 3pm from Cardiff City ticket office.

Feeling confident about tomorrow

2-0 to CCFC

You can buy tickets up until 3pm from Cardiff City Ticket Office

The defender suffered what boss Gary Rowett described as a "little knock" in Tuesday's 1-1 draw at Preston.

David Cotterill (knee) and Paul Robinson (thigh) were due to return to training on Thursday but neither will be fit to face Cardiff.

Slade on Joe Mason.

Joe Mason had a virus that put him out and a little bit of a sore back too. He’s fighting to get back in the team. He’s made of the right stuff. He’s got a good attitude. It’s good to have healthy competition for places.

2-2 after being 2-0 up

Hearing apparently over 900 encroaching onto 1000 tickets have been sold. can anyone confirm this? I was expecting more of the 600-700 mark with it being a weeknight live on sky. Excellent support if true

- Birmingham have failed to find the back of the net in each of their last three against Cardiff.

- Cardiff have gone seven league games without defeat against the Blues (W4 D3).

- Birmingham have not scored in six of their last seven home league games, the exception being a 2-1 win over QPR in October.

- Tony Watt has scored in two of his four league games since joining the Bluebirds on loan.

- The Blues have held just 41.6% possession on average in the Championship this season, the lowest figure posted by a side.

- Cardiff's win at Bolton in their last away game ended a run of six without a win (D3 L3).

About 600 City fans travelling tonight

Our two Central Midfield superstars, Kenwynne and TWatt will ensure a win tonight. 0-2 City

Sky sports have said the game could be in doubt, ground conditions???

Birmingham will be without David Cotterill, Clayton Donaldson and Paul Robinson with Jonathan Grounds looking doubtful while we have no new injury concerns.

Whoops I just seen Grounds doubtful and I thought grounds doubtful,sorry wrong ground.