Birmingham play top of the league Watford tonight in what should be an interesting second look at Gary Rowett’s new methods are Blues.
The home side will be hoping to put to bed the terrible home form under their old boss with a positive start under their new one. Blues have won just 5% of their last 20 home games, uncomfortable reading.
Watford will be expecting to over power Birmingham as they would expect to be at a higher quality, being so far away from each other in the division.
Vital Quotes:
Gary Rowett on bcfc.com
‘I think we learnt that in a short space of time we can get players trying to work together. I thought the combined effort to keep their shape and work on some of the things that we spoke to them about was excellent and you have to say they took those on board really, really well. I think that by doing what they did Saturday it should give the players a little bit of renewed confidence that if they work together, certainly they can improve the performance levels further. Hopefully tonight we will play with a little bit more quality and confidence as well.’
‘To win some games, it`s as simple as that. We want to win games as fast as we can, but I think that comes over time from working with the players to try and improve them individually and as a team and improve all aspects. We need to be able to play the way we want to play, which is with lots of energy and lots of high intensity running. On Saturday they showed that some of the energy levels are really good. In the last minute I remember seeing David Cotterill sprinting back 70 yards to try and make a tackle and in the 91st minute Wes (Thomas) was sprinting to try and close the goalkeeper down. That`s the sort of thing we`re going to need to improve further. I think in the final third the players could have just been a little bit more positive.’
‘I think he handled the fact that he`d only had one training session on Friday really well. You can`t get to know the players or create any real partnerships on the pitch in that space of time. What you can say is that he showed what a good player he is and I think that`s going to be invaluable to us. I think he and Robbo formed a really good partnership at Wolverhampton. The first ten or 15 minutes it took them a while to get used to each other’s positioning, but they coped really well. The biggest thing for me is he`s got a little bit of leadership as well. You saw the determination, as the camera panned in on him on Saturday, to try and help his team-mates out and try and organise others around him. Sometimes that`s what you are after; someone not only doing their job, but also helping other people with their jobs as well.’
‘We know Watford are a good side, but Wolves are also a good side. As we always do we`ll show the players clips, we`ll do our diligence on any team and we`ll be respectful of what any team can do to you and Watford are no different. They’ve got some good attacking players with the likes of Deeney and Vydra, but we`ve got to look at what we can do and ways in which we may be able to hurt Watford and ways we have to go about the game. We need to play with control and I thought in little spells at Molineux we played with some good control. The key will be to try and do that in bigger spells tonight.’
‘The club have put in an initiative for the game at £10 a ticket. I think there`s been a really good response so far. I think it would be fantastic if we could get 20,000 plus in St. Andrew`s and get it rocking. We need as many people coming down and supporting us as we can. If we can just get a little bit of that atmosphere into the ground then that can really help the players and it is going to be important that fans come and show their support on Tuesday night. Hopefully we`ll replicate that with the effort and determination and performance.’
Birmingham City Team News:
David Edgar may come back into the side after sitting out of the Wolves game due to a one match ban.
Demarai Gray is back in training after missing the last match through injury. He may possibly make he return on the bench.
Lee Novak remains sidelined with his thigh injury but is expected back soon.
Gunning, Green and Duffy all remain injured.
Player to watch: Darren Randolph
The Blues keeper had an important game against Wolves and he will need another good game tonight.
Some inspired keeping can often be the difference between getting something from the game and leaving empty handed.
Watford Team News:
Winger Ikechi Anya is back just in time to make tonight’s game after recovering from a dead lead.
Angella, Tamas and Abdi all remain out for the visitors
Player to watch: Lloyd Dyer
Dyer was apart of the Leicester squad that was promoted last season and knows what success in the Championship is all about. He will be an important player for the visitors all season.
Match Facts & Stats
Taken from bbc.co.uk
? Watford won the last meeting 1-0 at Vicarage Road in February.
? The Hornets have won the past four meetings without conceding a goal. Birmingham’s last win was 3-0 at St Andrew’s in January 2012.
? Watford have won the past two meetings at St Andrew’s, after losing the previous five meetings there.
Next Fixtures:
08 Nov – Cardiff – Championship – 15:00 (H)
22 Nov – Rotherham – Championship – 15:00 (A)
29 Nov – Forest – Championship – 15:00 (H)