Brentford will look to adjust to life after Marinus Dijkhuizen as they take on Birmingham City in the Championship.

However, the Blues travel to Griffin Park hoping to pull themselves out of a recent slump in form as they try to get their promotion bid back on track.

Brentford

The Bees have had a dramatic build-up to this game to say the least, having dismissed their head coach on Tuesday after only a few months in change.

Following Brentford's 2-1 defeat at home to Sheffield Wednesday, the Londoners decided to part company with Dijkhuizen and his assistant Roy Hendriksen, with the club only a point above the relegation zone.

Dijkhuizen has admitted that he was "completely shocked" by his sacking, but a run of eight points from a possible 24, for a team who reached the playoffs last season, may have contributed to his downfall.

Lee Carsley, who impressed while coaching the Bees' development squad, will take charge until the end of the season, with former Coventry City defender Paul Williams becoming his number two.

However, Carsley may face the same problem as his predecessor, with Brentford boasting a lengthy injury list.

The former Everton man may also want to address the Bees' leaky defence, having let in 15 goals so far this season. Only Queens Park Rangers, Rotherham United and bottom-of-the-table Bristol City have conceded more.

Recent form: LLDLWL

Birmingham City

City manager Gary Rowett has laid down the law to his playing squad as he tries to turn around his team's recent form.

After their unbeaten start to the season came to an end at home to Nottingham Forest earlier this month, the Blues are now without a win in four games and have slipped to ninth in the table, although they remain only three points outside the playoff places.

Rowett has warned his team that they must pull their socks up or miss out on time off during the forthcoming international break.

The Blues boss has also recently challenged his men to reproduce their performance from last week, when they pushed local rivals Aston Villa in the last 16 of the League Cup but ultimately lost 1-0 at Villa Park.

If Birmingham are to return to winning ways, they will need to do it the hard way, with the trip to Brentford kicking off a run of four away games in five over the next month.

However, should City continue to languish outside the top six over the coming months then Rowett might struggle to keep his squad intact, with youngster Demarai Gray reportedly on the radars of both West Bromwich Albion and Liverpool.

Recent form: DWWLDL
Recent form (all competitions): WWLDLL

Team News

With Josh McEachran, Akaki Gogia, Lewis McLeod, Sam Saunders, Philipp Hofmann, Maxime Colin, Andreas Bjelland, Jota and Scott Hogan all out through injury, Carsley may turn to his youth team in order to bolster his options.

James Tarkowski is also suspended following his red card against Wednesday, with Nico Yennaris in contention to replace the defender. Liverpool loanee Sergi Canos could also be in line for his first league start for the Bees, after coming off the bench in recent games.

Meanwhile, Andrew Shinnie and Clayton Donaldson are rated as 50-50 by Rowett to be fit for the game. Donaldson is battling to shake off a hip problem, while Shinnie has a hamstring injury.

Should Donaldson miss out on the trip to Griffin Park then Nicolai Brock-Madsen is among those in contention to partner Gray in attack.

Brentford possible starting lineup:
Button, Clarke, Dean, Yennaris, Bidwell, McCormack, Diagouraga, Vibe, Kerschbaumer, Judge, Djuricin

Birmingham City possible starting lineup:
Kuszczak; Caddis, Morrison, Spector, Grounds; Kieftenbeld, Gleeson, Cotterill, Toral; Gray, Brock-Madsen

Head To Head

Although the sides have met only three times since the turn of the millennium, Brentford's recent record against Birmingham is not the best, having won only one of their last 12 encounters against the Blues.

Indeed, the Bees' last victory over City came courtesy of a 3-1 triumph at St Andrew's in December 1992, when the teams met in the old League Division One.

However, Birmingham's last defeat at Griffin Park came back in March 1954 following a 2-0 win for the Londoners.

We say: Brentford 1-1 Birmingham

The Bees were only beaten by Wednesday in the dying minutes, despite playing much of the game with 10 men. However, the boost from having a new manager in the dugout may not be enough to help an injury-ravaged side overcome City, who have a point of their own to prove.