Swansea City will be looking to close the gap to the playoffs when they host an out-of-form Birmingham City side in South Wales on Saturday afternoon in the Championship.

The Welsh club have had a fortnight to dwell on their draw with Queens Park Rangers last time out, whereas Birmingham were in FA Cup replay action on Tuesday night against Blackburn Rovers.

Match preview

Former Swans striker Jamal Lowe came back to haunt his old club at Loftus Road a fortnight ago when he fired QPR into a first-half lead, but Jay Fulton's third goal of the season ensured Russell Martin's men returned to Wales with a share of the spoils.

After exiting the FA Cup at the third-round stage to divisional-rivals Bristol City, Swansea have only league matters to attend to between now and May, with ambitions of finishing in the top six still a realistic possibility.

Martin's side are currently 12th in the Championship standings, four points behind sixth-placed Blackburn and just six behind Middlesbrough who sit in third, highlighting the competitiveness of this season's playoff race.

Swansea have been noticeably inconsistent so far this campaign, with the Welsh side having not won back-to-back league fixtures since October - a record that will need to change soon if they are to break into the top six.

The Swans have enjoyed more possession than any other side in the Championship but have struggled to turn that form of dominance into goals and maximum points, a failure which has hindered the team's progression up the league table.

Birmingham bowed out of the FA Cup on Tuesday evening after an Auston Trusty own goal gave visiting Blackburn an extra-time winner at St Andrew's, a result which secured the Lancashire side a clash with Leicester City in the fifth round.

Unlike recent games where the Blues have struggled to pose any sort of attacking threat, John Eustace's men had the better of the attacking action in their clash with Blackburn, and in truth have only their inability to finish chances to blame for their exit from the competition.

Eustace's side have only the Championship to focus on now for the remainder of the campaign, and after five successive losses, Bluenoses are beginning to worry their side could be dragged into their annual relegation battle.

Since returning from the World Cup break, Birmingham have been missing the energy that characterised their success at the start of the season, and their league standing has suffered as a result, with the Blues now just six points above the relegation zone.

Any partial takeover of the club looks very unlikely to take place before the campaign's end, with the remit for Eustace being - like so many of Birmingham's managers in recent times - to keep the Blues' second-tier status safe for another year.

Team News

Swansea have suffered a massive blow after Steven Benda picked up a serious knee injury in the draw with QPR last weekend, with the goalkeeper now sidelined for the remainder of the campaign.

Midfielder Liam Walsh returned to action in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Newport County last week after suffering an Achilles injury in pre-season, although the playmaker is not ready to be included in Championship squads just yet.

Morgan Whittaker also appeared in that fixture against Newport and will be part of Swansea's squad for the remainder of the season after a move to Scottish giants Rangers failed to materialise in the closing stages of the transfer window.

Birmingham made Manny Longelo's loan signing from West Ham United a permanent one on deadline day - a deal which reduced the number of loan players in Blues' camp to five, allowing the wing-back to be involved in second-tier matchday squads once more.

Krystian Bielik was rested on Tuesday night as Blues lost to Blackburn, but the Poland international should be straight back into the XI for this one despite the encouraging performance of Alfie Chang in that FA Cup replay.

George Hall and Harlee Dean will rejoin first-team training at the start of next week after their hamstring and calf injuries respectively, whereas forward Troy Deeney is expected to be back among the squad in around a week.

Swansea City possible starting lineup:
Fisher; Latibeaudiere, Cabango, Darling, Manning; Grimes, Allen, Cooper, Fulton, Cullen; Piroe

Birmingham City possible starting lineup:
Ruddy; Sanderson, Long, Trusty; Colin, Bielik, Gardner, Chong, Longelo; Khadra, Jutkiewicz

We say: Swansea City 1-1 Birmingham City

Swansea need to find some consistency if they are to finish inside the top six this season, and a clash with a stuttering Birmingham side is the type of game they must take maximum points from.

Birmingham have lost their last five league matches but showed signs of improvement in their FA Cup defeat on Tuesday night, and we believe they will do enough to earn a point in South Wales on Saturday.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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