Summary

  • Birmingham beat rivals West Brom to go fifth in Championship

  • Bacuna penalty & Sanderson header put Blues 2-1 up at break

  • Miyoshi appeared to slip to win penalty for Birmingham

  • Blues sub Gardner added wonderful free-kick late on

  • Swift had slotted Baggies into early lead from 20 yards

  • Blues go two-points clear of Baggies who drop to seventh

  • Birmingham have now won four in a row against West Brom

Live Reporting

Alex Hoad

  1. Blues name unchanged XI

    Birmingham v West Brom (20:00 kick-off)

    In news which will come as no surprise to most, Blues boss John Eustace has named the same side which thumped Huddersfield 4-1 on Tuesday night.

    Man of the hour Siriki Dembele got half of those goals and is Blues' joint-leading scorer this season with three, the same number as Jay Stansfield who also starts in attack.

    Blues XI: Ruddy, Drameh, Sanderson, Long, Longelo, Bielik, Sunjic, Bacuna, Miyoshi, Dembele, Stansfield.

    Subs: Etheridge, Roberts, Aiwu, Gardner, James, Khela, Hogan, Jutkiewicz, Burke.

  2. History in the making?

    Birmingham v West Brom (20:00 kick-off)

    Birmingham will have their eyes firmly set on making history tonight.

    Blues have won their last three league games against the Baggies. The last time they won four in a row against their rivals was 92 years ago, when Ramsay MacDonald was Prime Minister, King George V was on the throne and the first Porsche was only six months old.

    That Boxing Day defeat in 1931 was the end of Albion’s Great Depression and they have gone on to assert themselves as the dominant side in the rivalry, winning 42 of the 105 meetings, eight more than Blues, thanks largely to a nine-match winning streak in the 1980s.

    Albion have however lost their last two visits to St Andrew’s, their only worse run came between 1938 and 1957 when they lost six straight.

  3. More than local pride at stake

    Birmingham v West Brom (20:00 kick-off)

    Jayson Molumby and Jed Wallace of West Brom take a stroll on the pitch at St Andrew'sGetty Images

    Jayson Molumby of West Bromwich Albion and Jed Wallace take a stroll on the pitch at St Andrew's

    Fans of these two teams might tell you they have bigger rivals, but there will be no claret or old gold on display this evening.

    Tonight all eyes in the West Midlands are firmly trained on St Andrew's where more than just local bragging rights are at stake.

    Just five miles separates The Hawthorns from St Andrew's as the crow flies and West Brom make the short trip just one point ahead of Birmingham in a very congested Championship table which sees just two points between the fifth-placed Baggies and Millwall down in 14th.

    Blues go into the game off the back of a 4-1 thumping of Huddersfield while Albion's 1-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday was their second win in succession.

    Who will have the momentum come the final whistle?

  4. Good evening...

    Birmingham v West Brom (20:00 kick-off)

    St Andrew'sGetty Images

    The calm before the storm at St Andrew's

    Welcome to what promises to be a wonderful weekend of sport.

    The working week is over and it's time to unwind with what will surely be a hotly-contested West Midlands derby.

    Whether you're a Bluenose, a Baggies fan or a neutral, this is one not to be missed.

    Our coverage starts here...