Birmingham City will be without five players at Stoke City
Latest Birmingham City news from BirminghamLive includes the injury latest before the Championship clash against Stoke City
Birmingham City will be without five players at Stoke City in their first away game under new manager Tony Mowbray.
Mowbray reported on Thursday that Ethan Laird and Marc Roberts are close to returning, but neither defender is in line to feature in the Potteries on Saturday (3pm kick-off). Neil Etheridge has made a speedy recovery from a calf injury and Emanuel Aiwu has fought off the illness that forced him to miss Tuesday’s FA Cup win over Hull City.
Etheridge and Aiwu could be on the bench at the bet365 Stadium, but veteran striker Lukas Jutkiewicz isn’t expected to feature again in January due to a calf strain. He joins Laird, Roberts, George Hall and Alfie Chang on the sidelines.
Blues’ injury list is shortening, though. Here is the latest ahead of the short trip up the M6 to play Stoke…
Lukas Jutkiewicz
Injury: Calf
Jutkiewicz was an effective substitute in Mowbray’s first game against Swansea but he couldn’t take part in the FA Cup replay with Hull due to a calf problem. Speaking afterwards, Mowbray said (January 16): “Juke is definitely calf, he will miss two or three weeks I think.”
Injury: Calf
The experienced defender had to be withdrawn in the 53rd minute of Blues’ defeat to Stoke on Boxing Day with a calf injury. It may have been a consequence of five starts in 18 days after so long without regular football.
