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DATE:
Saturday 27th August 2005
MATCH PREVIEW BY: Dale Brookes
So here we are again then
and the first local derby of the season as we host
Birmingham
City on
Saturday afternoon. It’s going to be a tough one as Blues are on the back of
two straight defeats to Man City & Middlesbrough and are still looking to
get their first victory of the season. We will have to be up for this one
otherwise it could well be another defeat and that’s the least we need with
the International break coming up straight after the game. Hopefully Robson
will field a much stronger side especially with Horsfield,
Gera,
Watson, Campbell & Wallwork all fresh having not even been in the squad
against Chelsea.
Going back to that
horrific show at Stamford Bridge, and it was very poor, we need a
massive improvement from Wednesday night. What was disappointing is the way
Robson set the stall out not to get beat instead of going for it. I hope he
does not do that again on Saturday because if he does then we will
definitely lose. It will be interesting to see if Ellington gets more of a
game as well because he looked very sharp when he came on, showed some nice
touches and if I must say probably looked our most threatening striker on
the night.
So prediction time then
and I hate to be negative but I think having played a day later than Blues,
our players will be fatigued and we will find it hard to break them down,
which is why I can only see us drawing this game 1-1. COME ON YOU BAGGIES!!! ALBION
Geoff Horsfield, Kevin
Campbell, Zoltan Gera & Ronnie Wallwork are almost certain to be
recalled to the squad if not the starting line up after boss Robson rested
all four of them in the midweek defeat to Chelsea. The players likely to
make way could well be: Chaplow, Kanu, Kamara & Scimeca. Junichi Inamoto
could also be in the frame for a starting place although Steve Watson is
still understood to be suffering from an injury.
Possible Albion
line-up:
Kirkland, Albrechtsen, Gaardsoe, Clement, Robinson,
Gera,
Wallwork, Inamoto, Greening, Campbell, Horsfield. BIRMINGHAM
CITY
Boss Steve Bruce could
well ring the changes following his sides 3-0 defeat at home to
Middlesbrough
on Tuesday night. Muzzy Izzet is pressing his claim for a first team place
after another impressive second half performance in midweek while Mikael
Forssell could also be in contention for a start along with Emile Heskey
who has now recovered from a thigh strain.
THIS SEASON
Blues currently lie in
17th place after picking up just one point from their opening three games.
On-loan Nicky Butt is the only Blues player to score so far this season. LAST SEASON
Finished 12th in the
Barclays Premiership. Knocked out of the FA Cup in the 4th round by
Chelsea and beaten in the 3rd round of the Carling Cup by Fulham. Emile
Heskey was Birmingham's top goal scorer last season with 11 goals. THE
MANAGER
Steve Bruce was
appointed City manager in December 2001 and within six months had taken them
into the Premiership via the play-offs. His playing career included spells
at Gillingham,
Norwich City, Manchester United and Birmingham City whilst his
managerial career has seen him spend time in charge of Sheffield United,
Huddersfield, Wigan Athletic and Crystal Palace. ONES TO WATCH
Jermaine Pennant -
Frightening pace and skill, can whip over some dangerous crosses with his
right foot.
Mikael Forssell -
Has not really hit form yet, but is pacy and is an excellent finisher.
Julian Gray -
Excellent going forward, has exciting pace and is a very good dribbler.
THE
SQUAD (Squad
numbers in brackets) Goalkeepers
Albion's first competitive
game against Blues came in a FA Cup semi-final at Aston in March 1886.
Albion ran out easy 4-0 winners against the team who were then known as
Small Heath Alliance. George Woodhall and Arthur Loach with two goals each
sent the Baggies through to their first FA Cup final. Albion first met Small
Heath, who dropped the Alliance from their name in 1888, in league action
during the 1894-95 season. The first league game between the two sides came
at Stoney Lane in November 1894 with Albion running out
4-1 winners. The return game at Blues'
Muntz Street ground in February saw Albion complete
the double over their local rivals with a 2-1 victory. Albion's best ever league
win against City came in April 1960 at
St Andrews when hat-tricks from Ronnie Allen and Derek Kevan and an
Alec Jackson goal helped
Albion to a 7-1 win. Other big wins against Blues over the years
include 5-1 in 1926, 5-3 in 1957 and 6-0 in 1958.
Blues biggest win against Albion is 4-0, a scoreline
achieved three times, in March 1948, March 1999 and December 2004.
Blues' last victory at The Hawthorns came in March 2000, two
goals from Dele Adebola and one from Marcelo gave Trevor Francis' side an
easy 3-0 victory. Albion 2-0 Birmingham City Albion: Hoult, Albrechtsen, Gaardsoe, Clement, Robinson, Gera, Richardson (Scimeca 90), Wallwork, Greening, Campbell, Horsfield (Kanu 86). Subs not used: Moore, Chaplow, Earnshaw Goalscorers: Clement 53, Campbell 64
Birmingham City: Taylor, Tebily (Lazaridis 37), Upson, Cunningham, Clapham, Johnson, Clemence, Diao (Anderton 68), Gray (Blake 68), Pandiani, Heskey. Subs not used: Vaesen (gk), Morrison
Referee: Steve Dunn (Gloucestershire)
Neil Clement & Kevin Campbell were the heroes as
Albion saw off neighbours Birmingham City 2-0 at the Hawthorns to move off
the bottom of the Premiership table for the first time since November.
Clement broke the deadlock midway through the second half when he crashed a
downward header into the roof of the net via a Kieran Richardson corner.
Kevin Campbell then made the points safe, as he steered home Greening’s left
wing cross after great work by Geoff Horsfield to shrug off the challenge of
Kenny Cunningham. CURRENT CONNECTIONS Darren Carter started his career at St Andrews before moving to The Hawthorns last month whilst Geoff Horsfield spent three years at City before moving to Wigan and then onto Albion. PAST CONNECTIONS Amongst the players to have turned out at various levels for both clubs are: Ray Barlow, Dave Barnett, David Burrows, Dennis Clarke, Gary Childs, Ron Fenton, Tony Godden, Phil Hawker, Paul Holmes, Bobby Hope, Robert Hopkins, Alec Jackson, Willie Johnston, Steve Lynex, Paul Mardon, Alan Miller, Tony Morley, John Paskin, Garry Pendrey, Paul Peschisolido, Graham Potter, Darren Purse, James Quinn, Tony Rees, Darren Rogers, David Smith, David Speedie, Kevin Summerfield, John Trewick and Chris Whyte. Ron Saunders managed both Blues and Albion whilst ex-Albion managers Ron Wylie and Alan Buckley both played for City; Albion legend Tony Brown coached at both clubs; Former Albion assistant manager Denis Mortimer had a spell as a Blues player whilst former Albion coach Mike Kelly was also a player at St Andrews. ALL-TIME LEAGUE & CUP RECORD VS BIRMINGHAM CITY
LAST TEN MATCHES AGAINST BIRMINGHAM CITY
Tickets for the game are now on sale to the general public. They will
remain on sale at the East Stand box office until kick-off time. |
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