Birmingham City – Bolton Wanderers Preview: Trotters aim to extend unbeaten record against Blues to six games

Owen Coyle, Bolton

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Birmingham City: Foster; Carr, Johnson, Jiranek, Ridgewell; Bentley, Gardner, Ferguson, Mutch, Beausejour; Jerome.

• The statistics are not on Birmingham’s side for this clash, as they have on won 39 out of the 119 clashes with Bolton – with the Trotters winning 48 matches.

• Alex McLeish’s side have not won in the Premier League for four matches and have picked up only one point from a possible 12, which has seen them plummet down the standings.

• They currently sit second bottom in the league, one point above Wigan Athletic but only one point from safety. However, three points could lift them as high as 14th place if other results go there way.

• The Blues’ record at St Andrews this season has been good, and they have only lost four out of the 15 games at home. The defeats were against Everton, Arsenal, Newcastle United and West Bromwich Albion.  The hosts have also conceded only 18 goals in their backyard.

• Injuries in midfield means McLeish is without Lee Bowyer, Alexsander Hleb, James McFadden and Keith Fahey whilst defender Scott Dann continues to be ruled out with a hamstring injury.

• Bolton should go into this game in confident mood, as they are unbeaten in five matches against Birmingham.

• They have also been victorious in three of their last five visits to St Andrews in all competitions, scoring 12 goals and conceding only six.

• The Trotters are currently in seventh position in the Premier League table, and a win in this match will close the gap on sixth-placed Liverpool. it would also keep them above the chasing pack of Everton, Sunderland and Stoke –  who are all within three points.

• However, Bolton’s away form has not been noteworthy for the right reasons, as they have only won twice on their travels this season. They have not picked up three points on an away day since mid-November, when they beat Wolves.

• The visitors will be without midfielder Stuart Holden after he suffered a knee injury after a strong tackle from Manchester United’s Jonny Evans two weeks ago. Coyle is also without Mark Davies, Sean Davis, Sam Ricketts and Zat Knight.

March 12, 2011: Birmingham City 2-3 Bolton Wanderers

The last time these two sides met was just three weeks ago when a last minute Chung-Yong Lee strike secured a victory for Bolton in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

The Trotters took the lead twice, through goals from Johan Elmander and Kevin Davies. But Cameron Jerome and Kevin Phillips helped draw Birmingham level, before Lee’s last minute header settled matters.