Wigan v Birmingham preview

Wigan v Birmingham preview

Published Mar. 18, 2011 9:15 a.m. ET

Bottom side Wigan almost have a fully-fit squad. Defender Emmerson Boyce is back in contention after overcoming the hamstring injury which has plagued him in recent months. Striker Hugo Rodallega is the only slight doubt after a knock in the defeat at Manchester City a fortnight ago but the Colombian has resumed training. January signing Connor Sammon could feature more after a six-minute debut at Eastlands. Meanwhile, Birmingham's injury crisis has eased. City were without eight first team players for the FA Cup quarter-final with Bolton last weekend, while Barry Ferguson and Martin Jiranek were injured and substituted during the game. But Blues manager Alex McLeish expects to have six players back available after injury for the Premier League relegation clash at Wigan on Saturday. Skipper Stephen Carr, Roger Johnson, Obafemi Martins and Craig Gardner - plus Ferguson and Jiranek - have resumed training and been declared fit for the weekend. Doubts still remain over whether Nikola Zigic, Lee Bowyer, David Bentley and Keith Fahey will be available. Wigan (from): Al Habsi, G Caldwell, Gohouri, Figueroa, Alcaraz, Watson, N'Zogbia, Diame, Moses, McCarthy, Rodallega, Stam, Lopez, Thomas, Gomez, McArthur, McManaman, Cleverley, S Caldwell, Sammon, Di Santo, Boyce, Pollitt, Kirkland. Birmingham (from): Foster, Doyle, Carr Parnaby, Jiranek, Johnson, Davies, Ridgewell, Murphy, Larsson, Ferguson, Gardner, Redmond, Mutch, Beausejour, Jerome, Martins, Phillips, Derbyshire, Zigic, Bowyer, Bentley, Fahey.

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