Arsenal man key for Birmingham's trip to Sunderland plus Dion Sanderson latest ahead of Championship fixture

The Blues are 17th in the Championship table and have conceded just once in their last four games – including two wins and two draws.

To find out more, we caught up with Charlie Haffenden from our sister title Birmingham World on the latest episode of The Roar Podcast.

You can listen to the full episode here

What’s the mood like at Birmingham ahead of the match?

CH: “I think it’s pretty good to be honest.

“They hit the 50-point mark with a 0-0 draw against Stoke last time out. It takes them nine points clear of the drop zone now.

“If they win at the weekend that takes them 12 points clear potentially of the relegation zone, but I think they are already safe to be honest.

“There are plenty of teams worse than them and they are just trying to impress fans before the end of the season.

“It’s been an up and down season and they were actually in the top half briefly and were looking pretty good.

“After the World Cup break things kind of tailed off and then they are picking up some form again now.”

Who are their key players to look out for?

CH: “Auston Trusty is a loanee from the Premier League who has come in from Arsenal. He’s played most games this year.

“He can play at left-back, on the left of a three or at left centre-back and has been really solid.

“Recently Marc Roberts has been crucial for Birmingham, three clean sheets in the last four and a key reason behind that is a partnership between Roberts and Kevin Long.

“Defensively Birmingham have shut out quite a lot of teams of late.

“Going forward there’s not much going on. Any goals that are scored are usually from lumping it up to Lukas Jutkiewicz up top and maybe the likes of Reda Khadra or Tahith Chong on the wings picking it up, but going forward is far from inspiring.”

What’s the latest team news?

CH: “I think it will be a bit too soon for a reunion for Dion Sanderson against Sunderland.

"Eustace a few months ago thought it could be the end of Sanderson’s season with quite a nasty back injury, but he is back in training now.

“I just think he needs a bit longer on the grass to get back to full match fitness, maybe next weekend will be the game we see him back.

“It’s a similar story with Troy Deeney, he’s had a hamstring problem for a couple of months.”

What formation will they play?

CH: “I’d imagine it would be a four at the back.

“Eustance has kind of hinted this week that he might experiment a bit more towards the end of the season now they have hit that 50-point mark, but I think they will stick with it after three clean sheets in their last four.

“A 4-2-3-1 is what they have done in the last few weeks. Sometimes they play with a bit more of a diamond.”

What’s your predicted line-up?

CH: “Ruddy: Colin, Long, Roberts, Trusty; Bielik, Mejbri; Khadra, Hall, Bacuna; Jutkiewicz”