Leeds United face Championship opposition for the third time this season when they go to St Andrew's on Sunday.
Birmingham City have suffered a fresh injury blow ahead of their Sunday lunchtime FA Cup fourth round meeting with Leeds United.
Like Leeds, who drew 2-2 at Chelsea, the Championship club were in midweek action on Tuesday night. They hosted relegation-threatened West Brom at St Andrew’s and played out a goalless stalemate.
The occasion was shrouded in controversy, with Birmingham midfielder Paik Seung-Ho’s goalbound header blocked on the line by the arm of Callum Styles. The Midlands club saw huge claims for a penalty waved away, however, and endured a frustrating evening.
Paik’s evening got worse during the first-half when he was forced off with a shoulder injury. The South Korean - who has been excellent this season, scoring four goals - dislocated his shoulder in November and looked to have suffered a recurrence of the issue.
“It’s that shoulder again and it’s concerning because he’s a massive player,” Head coach Chris Davies told Birmingham Live. “It’s obviously very painful to experience getting your shoulder like that again. We will have to see how he is and what exactly it means because it’s the second time that it’s happened now.”
Paik absence a big blow for Birmingham
Paik has featured in all but one of Birmingham’s Championship matches this season, missing one game against Norwich City when he dislocated his shoulder back in November. That period of absence also included an international break, with the 28-year-old out for around three weeks in total.
Read More
Tuesday’s draw has left Birmingham just one point off the Championship play-off places, albeit they are one of five teams on either 46 or 47 points in a typically packed second-tier. Davies’ side do welcome Leeds to St Andrew’s in good form, however, having gone eight without defeat in all competitions.
The Whites are likely to rotate heavily, as they did against Derby County in the previous round, with Premier League survival still the priority. Daniel Farke handed starts to the likes of Ao Tanaka, Joel Piroe and Willy Gnonto at Pride Park with a similar line-up expected on Sunday.
Continue Reading