Preview

 

Sports Mole previews Saturday's pre-season friendly clash between Burton Albion and Birmingham City, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Burton Albion and Birmingham City will continue their preparations for the 2022-23 season with a friendly encounter at the Pirelli Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's side went down 1-0 to Nottingham Forest last time out, while the visitors played out a 1-1 draw with Portuguese outfit Portimonense.

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Match preview

Only a Steve Cook goal could separate League One mainstays Burton Albion and newly-promoted Premier League side Nottingham Forest during their most recent pre-season friendly, so it came as no surprise to see Hasselbaink upbeat following the final whistle.

The 50-year-old insisted that there was much to like about his side's performance on the day, which came after Burton Albion had suffered a 4-2 loss to Hibernian in their opening pre-season friendly before claiming a 2-1 success over Stratford Town.

A Burton Albion XI will face Mickleover the day before the visit of Birmingham, but one can assume that Hasselbaink will deploy his strongest troops for the Bass Charity Vase game on Saturday, and the friendlies are coming thick and fast for the Brewers.

Brackley Town, Sheffield United and Belper Town will all do battle with Hasselbaink's outfit before they commence their League One season against Wycombe Wanderers on July 30, and Birmingham will certainly provide stern opposition this weekend.

An early trip to Portugal would be an ideal way to start a new job in any sector, and newly-appointed Birmingham City manager John Eustace oversaw a week-long training camp in the sunshine before a good workout against Portimonense on Tuesday.

One week after scoring the winner in a behind-closed-doors fixture with Walsall, Scott Hogan found the back of the net again for Birmingham in the 33rd minute of the contest at the Estadio da Nora, which came after Ewerton had put the home side ahead.

The Blues will now seek to extend their unbeaten pre-season run to three matches amid continued off-field uncertainty surrounding Laurence Bassini's proposed takeover, with Lee Bowyer being relieved of his duties earlier this month as part of the major St Andrew's shake-up.

Cheltenham Town and Rayo Vallecano will also lock horns with Birmingham as part of their pre-season preparations, and the Blues' most recent clash with Burton Albion in the 2017-18 Championship season ended with the spoils shared at 1-1.

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Team News

Burton centre-back Sam Hughes continues to build up his match fitness after recovering from a devastating ACL tear, and the 25-year-old lasted 82 minutes of the recent loss to Forest.

Hasselbaink did not pick up any fresh injury problems in Tuesday's defeat, and he was not averse to hand minutes to a couple of trialists against Premier League opposition.

The hosting manager jokingly laughed off a question surrounding Viljami Sinisalo's potential debut after the defeat to Forest, with the Finnish goalkeeper arriving on loan from Aston Villa earlier this week.

Meanwhile, Birmingham starlet Adan George, who recently committed himself to a new contract at St Andrew's, is still working his way back from an ACL injury and was not involved against Portimonense.

Loan signings Dion Sanderson and Przemyslaw Placheta both completed one half each on Tuesday, and the Blues are also supposedly set to sign Arsenal centre-back Auston Trusty for the 2022-23 season.

The 23-year-old is not expected to join in time to take part on Saturday, where Sanderson and Marc Roberts ought to act as the centre-back pairing from the off. Jobe Bellingham - younger brother of Jude Bellingham - could come on as a substitute at the Pirelli Stadium.

Burton Albion possible starting lineup:
Sinisalo; Hamer, Shaughnessy, Oshilaja, Hughes, Kokolo; Taylor, Lakin, Keillor-Dunn; Moult, Ahadme

Birmingham City possible starting lineup:
Etheridge; Graham, Roberts, Sanderson, Colin; Bacuna, Woods, Bailey; Leko, Deeney, Hogan

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We say: Burton Albion 1-2 Birmingham City

Burton Albion held their own against Nottingham Forest and will be tempted to set up in a defence-heavy formation, which Birmingham will need to be at their best to break down.

The Blues have started life under Eustace positively despite their off-field issues, and we are backing the Championship club to edge a tight contest here.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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