Birmingham City and West Brom in six-point derby

Birmingham City are on a high after their shock win over Arsenal in the Carling Cup final at Wembley, but they must refocus their attentions on avoiding relegation when they entertain West Midlands rivals West Brom.

It is a real relegation six-pointer at St Andrews as Birmingham still sit 16th in the Premier League, with Roy Hodgson's Baggies only a place and a point behind them.

Despite securing European football last weekend with that final win, Alex McLeish needs to ensure Birmingham remain in the Premier League next season and a win over West Brom would take them a massive step towards safety, especially considering the Blues have two games in hand on many of their relegation rivals.

Birmingham have a good record at St Andrews and have lost only three of their last 29 Premier League matches in front of their home fans. They could fancy their chances of getting all three points as they face a Baggies side that have not kept a clean sheet for 26 top flight matches - and the Blues are 7/5 with bookmakers to get that vital win.

McLeish has major fitness concerns over the midfield duo of Barry Ferguson and Craig Gardner. That Wembley win came at a price as Gardner had to be substituted early in the second half with a calf injury, while it was revealed after the game Ferguson had played the final hour with a broken rib.

On-loan duo David Bentley and Curtis Davies come back into contention after being cup-tied for the Carling Cup final, but Alexander Hleb will remain out with a troublesome knee injury.

Roger Johnson was seen struggling with a calf problem at Wembley and faces a race against time to play against West Brom, while his usual defensive colleague Scott Dann's season is over thanks to a hamstring problem.

Giant Serbian striker Nikola Zigic (5/1 to score first goal) could look to add to his recent record of four goals in his last five matches in all competition, and he is likely to be the main goalscoring threat for a Birmingham side who have had the fewest shots on target of any Premier League side this season.

West Brom have drawn four of their last five Premier League matches, including the last three in a row, and Hodgson knows his side could do with winning all three points at St Andrews, something that bookies have priced at 12/5, with 23/10 for a draw.

The Baggies boss has no fresh injury concerns going into the game and all eyes could be on on-loan forward Carlos Vela (8/1 to score the first goal), who has scored in his last two games and might be given a start by Hodgson, as the main attacking threat for the visitors.

It promises to be an enthralling West Midlands derby and a win for Birmingham would take them potentially five points clear of the Premier League drop zone and then Blues fans would be able to celebrate their Carling Cup success without any lingering fears of relegation.