Much-changed Birmingham City to face Sheffield Wednesday

Birmingham City have had more success in the cups than in the league this season and they will look to keep that going against League One Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup fifth round. Alex McLeish's side have already made it to the final of one cup competition, where they are due face Arsenal at Wembley in the Carling Cup final next weekend, but they struggles have continued in the league.

The team wasted a golden opportunity to climb into the top ten in the Premier League when they were beaten by Newcastle during the week, meaning that despite some promising performances in recent weeks they still sit only three points clear of the bottom three.

But as usual the FA Cup is a chance to put your league worries to one side and Birmingham will be looking to bounce back from the midweek defeat that ended their five-match unbeaten run in all competitions, with the Blues priced at 4/6 to get the win. You can bet on them for free using our William Hill Promo code.

The home side are 46 places higher than Sheffield Wednesday in the leader ladder, with the Owls languishing down in 16th position in League One.

Wednesday, now managed by former favourite Gary Megson, will be considered outsiders to cause an upset and are priced at 5/1 to win the game after not winning in their last four matches. The head-to-head history between the two teams favour Birmingham, with the Blues have win five of their last six matches against Wednesday – however the Owls did manage a 2-1 win at St Andrews back in 2001.

Team news ahead of the FA Cup fifth round game seems Birmingham boss McLeish have injury headaches over defensive duo Martin Jiranek and Liam Ridgewell. The Scot would look to call on Curtis Davies, however the former Villa man needs a late fitness tests with a knee injury. McLeish seems likely to make changes for the games and give an opportunity to some fringe players.

He made nine changes for the fourth round win over Coventry and the likes of Matt Derbyshire, Alexander Hleb, Lee Bowyer, Keith Fahey, Stuart Parnaby, David Murphy, Jordan Mutch and Colin Doyle could all get a run out on Saturday. "The FA Cup will allow us to utilise the squad. There are some fantastic players to come into the team," the boss said. "But I stress we still want to progress in the cup which is a fantastic competition."

For Wednesday Giles Coke is suspended and Gary Madine cup-tied, but Megson could call on Tommy Miller after he returned to training and Lewis Buxton could miss out after requiring a scan on a hamstring problem. With Birmingham already Wembley-bound there is a slight chance they could take their foot off the accelerator pedal, which would open the door for this weekend's visitors to spring a surprise.