Palace v Birmingham City

Selhurst Park, Saturday 3.00pm

Story so far

Steve Bruce looked as though his career at Birmingham was over, however, the Blues' owners stuck by him after relegation and now it looks like he'll get them back into the Premiership at the first time of asking.

Bruce spent a hell of a lot of money in the summer and January - a gamble that looks like it will pay off.

Birmingham narrowly beat Palace in the reverse at St Andrews which ended the run that put Palace top of the league.

Team news

Stuart Green is set to miss the next six weeks due to a shoulder operation sustained at Sunderland last month.

Tom Soares is still suspended after his red card in the 2-0 win against Ipswich. But Danny Granville is pushing for a first-team start.

Midfield duo Jobi McAnuff (hamstring) and Ben Watson (thigh) are out of action. Michael Hughes is unlikley to feature after becoming out of favour with boss Peter Taylor.

Birmingham midfielder Stephen Clemence and defender Stephen Kelly have both beaten off calf injuries.

Nicklas Bendtner has an ankle problem, but is having painkiller injections to ease the pain.

Quotes

Peter Taylor said: "To keep our season alive, we need to win the match, it's as simple as that.

"We had been on a great run before that and I thought we were unlucky to lose at Leeds last week to be honest.

"We were the better team for half an hour before their goal and after looking at the video of their second goal we couldn't have been more unlucky with the two deflections.

"It was an unlucky defeat but it's happened and we've got to bounce back and it's a massive game to try and bounce back in."

"They're (Birmingham) a very strong side and I've seen them play a couple of times myself," revealed the Palace chief.

"They have forwards who can score goals out of nothing so there will be times when they are not on top, but can still go and score.

"They have players who can score against the run of play and the majority of their players will have played in the Premiership whilst the likes of McSheffrey will be one of the best players in the Championship and will say that he should be in the Premiership."

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Birmingham City - league stats

Position	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points
3rd	30	17	6	7	57

Full league table

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Birmingham City - current form

Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against
5	2	1	2	10	8

Full form table

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Our home record v Birmingham City

Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against
21	12	5	4	35	18

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Last five results

Date	Type	Home Team	Score	Away Team
19/08/2006	League	Birmingham City	2 - 1	Crystal Palace
26/02/2005	League	Crystal Palace	2 - 0	Birmingham City
30/10/2004	League	Birmingham City	0 - 1	Crystal Palace
01/04/2002	League	Crystal Palace	0 - 0	Birmingham City
11/12/2001	League	Birmingham City	1 - 0	Crystal Palace

All time results

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One to watch

Gary McSheffrey

With Birmingham purchasing every striker in the division at extortionate prices, it's difficult to find the player that will pose the strongest threat.

There is an abundance of pace, skill and an eye for goal for the Birmingham frontline but Gary McSheffrey, signed for about £4m, came out on top.

McSheffrey is predominantly played in a wide position to push into a 4-3-3. He can run at defences from wide or just find himself in goal-scoring opportunities in front of goal.

McSheffrey has fantastic pace and technical skill that would make him a menace to any defence.

Probable line-up

	Scowcroft	Morrison
Kennedy	Lawrence	Fletcher	Ifill
Borrowdale	Cort	Hudson	Butterfield
Kiraly

Ref watch

S J Tanner

Last meeting

Birmingham City 2-1 Palace

Saturday August 19 2006

Birmingham City: Maik Taylor, Kelly, N'Gotty, Jaidi, Sadler, Johnson (Forssell, 79 ), Dunn, Nafti (Larsson, 65 ), McSheffrey, Campbell, Bendtner (Danns, 73)

Subs not used: Doyle, Tebily

Yellow: Danns

Goals: Bendtner 23, Larsson 90

Palace: Kiraly, Butterfield (Lawrence, 66), Cort, Hudson, Granville, McAnuff, Fletcher, Watson (Freedman, 64), Kennedy, Soares, Scowcroft (Morrison, 85)

Subs not used: Flinders, Reich

Goals: McAnuff 11

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