Birmingham City out to battle at Stoke City

Birmingham City's last two results has seen an upturn in fortunes for the side, with a comeback draw against high-flying Manchester City followed by a vital win over relegation rivals West Ham.

That win saw them leap out of the Premier League bottom three and they will be looking to get another win, priced at 6/4 with bookies, to preserve their impressive home form so far.

Birmingham have drawn with City, Manchester United and Spurs, while also taking all three points off Chelsea, and McLeish will be hoping the team can become more proficient in front of goal as they have drawn seven matches at St Andrews and need to convert more draws into wins if they want to climb the table.

New January signing Obafemi Martins is now able to make his debut for the club after finally receiving a visa to complete his move from Russian side Rubin Kazan.

The Nigerian striker has previous Premier League experience during his time with Newcastle United and his pace and power will offer Birmingham a new potency to their attack, with the forward priced at 13/2 to score the first goal.

Neither Cameron Jerome or Nikola Zigic, who are both 7/1 to open the scoring. have managed to really excel so far this season, with both strikers offering something to the team but neither scoring the goals to ensure Birmingham help climb the table.

David Bentley's arrival at St Andrews has coincided with a turnaround in their form and fortunes and the on-loan Spurs winger claims there is enough strength at the club to avoid relegation.

"We've got more than enough to stay up. The ability is here and we've got some good technical players," he told The Mirror.

"We need to go out there and battle for the three points because they are so precious at this level. There's a very positive mental attitude here that's really good to be a part of."

Scott Dann and James McFadden remain out injured for the hosts, but midfielder Alexander Hleb comes back in contention after struggling with a knee injury in recent months.

Stoke City sit six points above Birmingham in the Premier League table and are indeed only four points outside the top seven themselves. The visitors are seen at 21/10 with bookmakers to win on Saturday/

They come into the game on the back of a morale-boosting victory over Sunderland last time out and could be buoyed by the return of striker Madamy Sidibe – who has been out for almost six months and scored on his return in the reserves this week.

A win for Birmingham could take them four points clear of the bottom three and give them some valuable breathing space over their rivals in what is destined to be a long and tight relegation battle.