Birmingham City - Sheffield Wednesday
St Andrew's, Birmingham
TEAM NEWS
Birmingham City
Liam Ridgewell and Martin Jiranek have both been ruled out but January signing Curtis Davies is ready to return, along with Alexander Hleb.
Boss Alex McLeish will no doubt have one eye on the club’s League Cup final against Arsenal that takes place a little over a week after Saturday’s game, so he could take advantage of the lower league status of their opponents by resting many of his key players.
Loan signing David Bentley is cup-tied for the final and striker Obafemi Martins needs match practice so both could feature alongside a collection of players needing to impressive to get a chance to grace the Wembley turf eight days later.
Possible starting XI: Doyle; Parnaby, Davies, Preston, Murphy; Beausejour. Fahey, Mutch, Bentley; Phillips, Martins.
Sheffield Wednesday
Like their opponents on Saturday, Sheffield Wednesday are in a relegation battle having won just one of their last eight games, and having had a managerial change to boot.
With confidence as low as it has been in a while, a decent performance against Premier League opposition could be a recipe for a well needed kick-start to their season.
Midfielder Giles Coke is suspended for the game after receiving his marching orders during the 3-0 defeat away to Tranmere last time out so Chris Sedgwick could deputise.
Possible starting XI: Weaver; Spurr, M Morrison, Reynolds, Johnson; Sedgwick, Osbourne, O'Connor, Teale; C Morrison, Madine.
Stoke City - Brighton
Britianna Stadium, Stoke
TEAM NEWS
Stoke City
Stoke are lucky enough to boast no new injury worries, with long term absentee Mamady Sidibe (Achilles) their only worry.
Boss Tony Pulis will be hoping for a confidence boosting win in the FA Cup after inconsistend form in the Premier League has seen them fall six points above the relegation zone.
Expect a mixture of first-team regulars and those fighting on the fringes of the first team to take part, namely the likes of Danny Pugh at left-back after he impressed at Preston on loan recently and Kenwyne Jones, who looks like needing a decent performance to get himself back on the goal trail.
Possible starting XI: Begovic; Shotton, Huth, Shawcross, Pugh; Walters, Wilson, Whitehead, Etherington; Jones, Fuller.
Brighton
Brighton have been lighting up League One this season and find themselves in the extremely comfortable position of being three points clear at the top of the league with two games in hand on their nearest rivals.
Not only that but they have been enjoying themselves in the FA Cup with wins over supposed better opposition in the form of Portsmouth and Watford so far.
Despite no fresh injury worries, it will prove a tall order against the Premier League opposition and boss Gus Poyet will no doubt field a full strength side.
Possible starting XI: Ankergren; Greer, El-Abd, Calderon, Painter; Bennett, Dicker, Bridcutt, Barnes; Murray, Wood.
