Birmingham City travel to Barnsley in the Championship this weekend, with Aitor Karanka’s side looking to build on a three point gap to the bottom three.
One defeat in four has pulled Birmingham City out of the relegation zone. Karanka was on the brink of losing his job last month but after picking up seven points in his last four outings, he’s relieved some growing pressure.
Performances have been better, the players are showing fight and the general mood has improved. But Rotherham United’s win over Sheffield Wednesday last night means the Millers are just three points behind 21st-place Birmingham City.
Going into this weekend’s clash v Barnsley, Karanka has told the club that he has now new injury concerns, and that he hopes Sam Cosgrove will be back in training next week.
💬 AK: "We have no new injury concerns, the rest of the squad are fit. Sam Cosgrove will be back training with us soon, hopefully next week." pic.twitter.com/q4qPQzhrLR
— Birmingham City FC (@BCFC) March 4, 2021
The man signed from Aberdeen in January has had a stop-start St Andrew’s career so far – he’s made just two Championship appearances without scoring, having missed the last five through injury.
He was brought in to bolster a Blues side who’ve managed just 26 goals in 34 Championship outings this season. The likes of Lukas Jutkiewicz and Scott Hogan haven’t proved as prolific as in previous seasons and Cosgrove’s return should give them some stern competition.
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As will Barnsley this weekend – Valerien Ismael’s side moved into te top-six briefly last night after a 3-1 win at QPR marked their sixth-straight win in the league.
But Birmingham have had some good results of late and put up a good fight for the most part of their 3-1 defeat at home to league leaders Norwich City last month, so they could yet prove a handful for the in-form Barnsley.
