Birmingham City v Aston Villa (Sun)
Gabby Agbonlahor hit his first goal in 14 months to settle the game when Villa last played Blues in AprilClick here for live text coverage on Sunday 11:45-14:15 GMT
Birmingham City hope that their record signing Jota is fit to start Sunday's Midlands derby against Aston Villa.
The Spaniard returned from a hamstring injury as a substitute in last week's 2-0 defeat at Millwall, while Villa old boy Craig Gardner hopes for a recall.
Villa's derby talisman Gabby Agbonlahor, who has a great scoring record against Blues, is still rated a big doubt with his torn calf injury.
Left-back Neil Taylor serves the final match of his three-game suspension.
Alan Hutton looks set to continue as his replacement, while Henri Lansbury (knee) and longer-term absentees Jack Grealish and Mile Jedinak are all available, back in training and could be risked.
Visiting captain John Terry leads Villa in a Second City derby for the first time, on the back of his first goal for the club in last weekend's 2-1 home win over Fulham.
That took Villa, who have lost just once in the Championship in two months, to fifth in the table, 11 points and 16 places ahead of Blues.
SAM's predictionHome win 31%Draw 28%Away win 41%
SAM, the Sports Analytics Machine, is a super-computer built by @ProfIanMcHale of the University of Liverpool.
Match factsBirmingham have not won in 10 league derby meetings with Villa, their joint-longest winless run since the first 10 meetings between the two clubs, between 1894 and 1905.The last two league meetings between these two sides at St Andrew's have both ended as 1-1 draws, most recently a year ago when David Davis cancelled out Gary Gardner's first-half goal.Former Blues boss Steve Bruce has won five Second City derby games, the first four with Birmingham, then his first with Villa in April. But he has lost five of his seven managerial visits to St Andrew's as an opposing manager.Gabby Agbonlahor's match-winning goal for Villa against Birmingham was the third time he has hit a Villa winner in the derby, having also done so twice at St Andrew's, each time with late goals (2-1 in November 2007 and 1-0 in September 2009).City manager Steve Cotterill was in the dug-out as the newly appointed Harry Redknapp's assistant when Blues lost 1-0 at Villa Park in April. His last visit as the man in charge came in October 2005 with Burnley, when his side lost 1-0 in the League Cup.Villa have scored three more league goals (11) in the first half of matches this season than Birmingham have managed in total (8). But Villa have conceded the highest proportion of their Championship goals (11 out of 13) in the second half of games.All Blues' three league victories this season have come under different managers.John Terry was never on the losing side in 10 meetings with Birmingham as a Chelsea player.Analysis
Richard Wilford, BBC WM's Birmingham City commentator
There's beauty in uncertainty, and the first Second City derby of the season is liberally laced with it. Steve Cotterill becomes the third Birmingham boss in three meetings to confront Steve Bruce since he added claret to his previously blue managerial roots.
There's uncertainty about what precisely Cotterill can expect from his squad. Will they have the competitive edge, team spirit and quality that despatched then leaders Cardiff in his first game? Or will they be the more lacklustre, penetration-lacking group who were deservedly turned over by Millwall?
The derby day atmosphere should bring out the best in them as Cotterill returns them to a more pragmatic, hard-to-beat, shall we say - Gary Rowett-esque approach - to the game. Given the personnel available, it's still Blues' best hope.
Mark Regan, BBC WM's Aston Villa commentator
As Oscar Wilde once very nearly said: 'To lose one derby away from home may be regarded as misfortune, but to lose two looks like carelessness'. A couple of weeks after Villa were well beaten by Wolves in their first derby of the season, Steve Bruce won't want to be making the short trip back to B6 holding nothing more than cold tea and sympathy again.
That defeat by Wolves aside, Villa have been resurgent. Five wins from their past six league games has moved them steadily into the play-off places, and a win over Blues could take them within touching distance of the top two depending on results elsewhere. On top of the local rivalry, that's a huge incentive.
Bruce will know all about what awaits his team at St Andrew's, having managed Blues to victory over Villa on some heady nights in front of the Birmingham fans. His side have some momentum, a more settled side and, in Albert Adomah, a player with five goals in his past six games.
Source: bbc.com
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