Brentford vs Birmingham City
Tuesday 20 February
Griffin Park, 7.45pm
Sky Bet Championship
The Opposition
Steve Cotterill has steadied the Birmingham City ship since his appointment in September but Blues still remain firmly embroiled in the Sky Bet Championship relegation dogfight. Things looked bad for Blues at Christmas but 13 points from six games in January means that Cotterill's side head to West London in 19th, two points the right side of the dotted line.
Without a doubt, Blues problem this season has been goalscoring. They have failed to find the net in 16 of their 32 league matches this campaign and are the divisions lowest scorers, with just 22 goals all season. Aside from Sam Gallagher (6) and Jacques Maghoma (4) no other Birmingham player has found the net more than twice this term.
Team News
Blues will be without a number of key personnel for this evening's game. Maikel Kieftenbeld begins a two-game suspension while Jonathan Grounds has joined Isaac Vassell on the long-term injury list after damaging medial ligaments earlier this month. David Davis is a doubt after missing Saturday's defeat to Millwall but Cheikh Ndoye could return after suspension.
The Bees team news is much simpler. Sergi Canos serves the final game of his three-match ban tonight meaning only he, and long-term absentee Rico Henry, are unavailable for selection.
The Manager
Steve Cotterill entered management with Sligo Rovers in the mid-1990s following a ten-year career as a striker in the non-league and lower leagues. He returned to England in 1997 to take charge of Cheltenham Town with whom he enjoyed a successful five-year spell, leading them into the Football League in 1999 and then into Division Two three years later.
An brief tenure at Stoke City followed, with later spells as manager at Burnley, Notts County, Portsmouth and Nottingham Forest, before arriving at Bristol City in December 2013. His first full-season at Ashton Gate saw him do the lower league double of League One title, which they won with a club record 99 points, and EFL Trophy. The Championship proved a tougher nut to crack and he was sacked in January 2016 with The Robins struggling before joining Harry Redknapp's coaching staff at St Andrew's this April.
Pre-Match Briefing
Opposition View: Birmingham Mail's Brian Dick on this evening's visit from Blues
Ref Watch: Geoff Eltringham is tonight's man in the middle at Griffin Park
Ticket News
Tonight's game is on General Sale from just £28 adults and £6 juniors. Join us for our final Brentford Night of the campaign.
Betting Preview
Principal partners LeoVegas have a range of markets on tonight's game. Check out their wide range of markets here.
Match Coverage
iFollow Brentford will be live from 7.15pm tonight with Mark Burridge hosting Matchday Live alongside Marcus Gayle and Mick Cabble.
Download the Official Brentford FC App to get notifications direct to your phone, plus all the latest news, views and reaction from the game. Visit the Play Store or iTunes App Store now to download.
