Birmingham v Swansea predictions: Blues ready to step it up again under Bowyer

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Birmingham City v Swansea City in the Championship on Friday.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Main Event & Football, 8pm Friday

Best bet

Birmingham
2pts 23-10 Betfair, Hills

Team news

Birmingham
Ivan Sanchez (hernia) and Scott Hogan (back) have had injections in efforts to get them ready for the Easter fixtures.

Swansea
Conor Hourihane (hamstring) and Andre Ayew (knock) have missed training but will be given every chance to prove their fitness. Marc Guehi is a doubt after sitting out the England Under-21s match against Croatia with a minor injury.

Match preview

Birmingham have played with much greater purpose since Lee Bowyer replaced Aitor Karanka in the dugout and they can climb further away from the Championship relegation zone by defeating highflying Swansea at St Andrew's.

There is still plenty of work to do for the Blues, who are three points above third-bottom Rotherham, having played four games more.

But the mood seemed to change with the arrival of Bowyer, who steered them to a deserved 2-1 success at home to Reading just one day after his arrival from Charlton.

Three days later Bowyer's side were beaten 3-0 at Watford but they had some decent spells at Vicarage Road and were far more competitive than the final score suggests.

In any case, a three-point return from two matches against top-six sides was a decent start and there is every chance of more success against the Swans, who seem to be running out of steam in the race for automatic promotion.

Swansea went into the international break after back-to-back defeats away to Bournemouth and at home to Cardiff which left them six points adrift of second-placed Watford and a point ahead of fourth-placed Brentford.

They are still in the hunt for a top-two finish but need to clear their heads quickly if they are to close the gap on Watford and give themselves something to play for when heading to Hertfordshire for their final league match of the season.

However, Steve Cooper's side could have done without a 12-day break to stew over their demoralising south Wales derby defeat and they may struggle to bounce back against a rejuvenated Birmingham side desperate to secure second-tier status.

Key stat

Swansea have kept one clean sheet in their last seven matches

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