Middlesbrough make the trip to St Andrew's to face Birmingham City on Monday with the opportunity to strengthen their spot in the Championship playoff places.

At a time when Boro are sixth in the standings ahead of the weekend's fixtures, Birmingham have recently dropped to 16th position courtesy of two successive defeats.

Match preview

Although Michael Carrick's reign is just nine matches old, Middlesbrough fans are already dreaming of a return to the Premier League just two months after fearing relegation.

As a result of their comeback 2-1 win at Blackburn Rovers on Thursday night, Carrick has now delivered 19 points from nine matches, remarkably moving the club into the playoff spots.

While that could quickly change given the astonishing competitiveness in the division this season, Boro are currently one of the form teams who no-one wants to face at this stage.

The North-East side have netted in every game under Carrick, and the recent success at Ewood Park came without having to rely on free-scoring Chuba Akpom to contribute another strike.

However, Marcus Forss has enjoyed a welcome return to form over Christmas, chipping in with two goals and an assist, and Boro will prove to be a tough team to stop if the Finland international and Akpom maintain their exploits in the final third in the long term.

With matches versus Burnley and Boro over the Christmas and New Year period, Birmingham boss John Eustace would have recognised the importance of taking something from their home fixture with Hull City on Friday evening.

Instead, Blues succumbed to a 1-0 defeat to the Tigers, ensuring that the team have now failed to score in seven of their last eight halves of football.

Birmingham also have just three wins from 11 games, leading to the previous optimism regarding a promotion bid losing strength with every match that passes.

Nevertheless, despite now finding themselves in 16th spot, Birmingham remain just four points adrift of their next opponents, giving the West Midlands side an opportunity to kick-start their campaign.

Team News

Dion Sanderson is likely to miss out for Birmingham after suffering a hamstring injury versus Hull on Friday night.

Maxime Colin may drop into the right-hand side of a back three, with either Jordan Graham or Jonathan Leko starting at wing-back.

With Scott Hogan unlikely to return for this game, Troy Deeney is expected to remain in attack alongside Tahith Chong, with Lukas Jutkiewicz only being named on the substitutes' bench yet again.

Having impressed in an unfamiliar central-attacking role at Blackburn, Matt Crooks should retain his place in the Boro side.

Barring any injury issues and having had an extra day of recovery, Carrick could insist on selecting the same Boro XI.

Birmingham City possible starting lineup:
Ruddy; Colin, Roberts, Trusty; Graham, Mejbri, Bielik, Bacuna, Longelo; Chong, Deeney

Middlesbrough possible starting lineup:
Steffen; Smith, Fry, Lenihan, Giles; Howson, Hackney; Forss, Akpom, McGree, Crooks

We say: Birmingham City 0-2 Middlesbrough

While it has been proven time and time again that anything can happen in the Championship, Boro have been relentless under Carrick. Despite their recent defeat at Burnley, we expect the visitors to have few issues in registering a win and clean sheet at St Andrew's.

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