Birmingham v Sunderland: Blues can edge tight encounter

• Birmingham have lost just twice at St Andrew's
• Sunderland have won only 4/13 under Tony Mowbray
• 33 of 39 combined games have gone Under 3.5 Goals

Birmingham battle back for a point

Troy Deeney's late goal gave Birmingham a precious point from an entertaining 2-2 draw with Swansea on Tuesday night. The visitors looked set for a comeback victory having fallen behind to Scott Hogan's early header.

With the Swans scoring twice before the interval at St Andrew's, veteran Blues skipper Deeney stepped up to notch from point-blank range to salvage a stalemate.

City boss John Eustace admitted his team missed Krystian Bielik and Harlee Dean but praised his squad for digging deep having made three changes to the team which won at Stoke, with Bielik suspended and Dean injured, forcing a reshuffle to both the defence and his midfield.

Eustace said, "We keep going until the end and obviously I'm delighted with a point. The subs that came on made a fantastic difference - it's all about the squad. For the first 20-25 minutes we were really good, then lost our discipline and conceded a really poor goal. Second half I thought we were much better, and that never-say-die attitude was there."

Dean remains a doubt with a calf problem - his place on Tuesday night was filled by Dion Sanderson, with George Friend coming back into the match-day squad for the first time since August. Meanwhile, Bielik returns from a ban for the hosts.

Mowbray bemoans inconsistent Sunderland

Sunderland chief Tony Mowbray admits he's looking for a more consistent output from his Black Cats team. The Wearsiders sit in mid-table following Saturday's 1-0 defeat at home to Cardiff with the head coach managing only four Championship victories from 13 matches in charge, and the north-east native is yet to record back-to-back triumphs in the hot-seat.

Mowbray said, "We have to show more consistency in our performances. We're really good for 45 minutes, either at the beginning or the end. We have to keep working, we have to keep striving to find answers. We want to score great goals, but sometimes you just have to win duels, win headers, win tackles, get there first. We have to bring both every game."

Sunderland will be without the suspended Luke O'Nien for Friday night's fixture after picking up his fifth yellow cards before the cut-off point. Elsewhere, Ross Stewart, Dan Ballard and Lynden Gooch are all sidelined and unavailable until after the World Cup break.

Blues make most appeal

Birmingham and Sunderland are meeting for the first time in over four years with the Blues boasting a solid W8-D4-L2 return in head-to-head match-ups this century. The Second City side have proven particularly strong at St Andrew's during that same sample (W5-D2-L0) and are unbeaten when welcoming the Wearsiders for league action since 1997.

Birmingham 2.3811/8 have made a solid start to John Eustace's reign, sitting just three points shy of the top-six (W7-D7-L6). However, the Blues have produced their best efforts against the league's elite and come into this clash having returned W5-D0-L4 against bottom-half dwellers, whilst managing only three home wins at St Andrew's (W3-D5-L2).

Sunderland 3.1511/5 have made a promising start to life back in the second-tier, although results have regressed since Alex Neil's departure at the end of August. The Black Cats have posted W4-D4-L5 under Tony Mowbray to slide to within three points of the bottom-three, with the guests still searching for a first success against top-half opposition this term (W0-D4-L5).

Oppose goals in a tight encounter

Goals haven't been a particularly prominent feature of either team's matches under the current regimes. Birmingham have covered the Over 2.5 Goals barrier in only 7/20 (35%) Championship outings under John Eustace, with six of 10 St Andrew's encounters producing a maximum of two strikes. Only Preston's fixtures have delivered fewer goals per-game.

Sunderland have seen six of their 13 dates under Tony Mowbray pay-out for Over 2.5 Goals 2.166/5 backers as eight of those clashes featured at least one side failing to score. With only six of the duos combined 39 Championship clashes delivering four goals or more, another relatively low-scoring showdown could be on the cards in the Second City.

With that in mind, I'm happy to take the 1.8810/11 on the Bet Builder for Birmingham Double Chance, Under 1.5 First-Half Goals and Under 3.5 Total Goals. Despite the quick turnaround, Blues have proven solid operators under Eustace and will be tough to breakdown.