Town boss Mick McCarthy will be looking for the Blues to claim their first away win of the season when they take on Birmingham City at St Andrew’s this evening (KO 7.45pm). Only Cameron Stewart (broken jaw) and Stephen Hunt (calf) have missed the trip to the Midlands through injury.
McCarthy’s first game as Town boss was the corresponding fixture two seasons ago when the Blues ran out 1-0 winners via a DJ Campbell goal.
Last year the result ought to have been much the same, but the home side claimed an undeserved late equaliser: "It was a deflection that did for us last year. We’d played really well but their goalkeeper [Darren Randolph] was unbelievable in that game.
"He made about four saves which were outstanding and we got done on a deflection. And it was a really bonkers one, it spun right over Gerks, he had no chance of stopping it. But it happens throughout the league.”
There have been plenty of changes at Birmingham this summer and McCarthy believes manager Lee Clark has a more manageable squad as a result.
"I think he still had some remnants from their time in the Premier League with players earning huge sums of money, one [Nikola Zigic] reported to be earning £70,000 a week and others earning £3,000 or £4,000,” he said.
"I know £3,000 or £4,000 is bonkers money in the real world, I fully accept that, but not in football and not when one player is earning 20 times more than some of the others with lads thinking they’re doing more of a shift and earning less.
"And that does create a bit of unrest. He’s gone out and signed a lot of players, all of them that I would think of as Championship players, good types, all grafters.
"I think if he’s allowed to work with them he’ll get a good, solid squad together. And, who knows, they might not be brilliant but we saw what happened last year with teams who got good squads together and stuck together and worked hard. Burnley were the epitome of it and they got promoted in the end.
"I’m not suggesting that that might happen this year, but you know you’re going to be all right if you get a good squad.
"He’s now got a group of players who are earning the same sort of dough, they’re all similar lads of a similar ilk, coming in from different clubs. It’s amazing how you can get them together and get them playing.”
Birmingham avoided relegation to League One in injury time of the final game of the season last May when Paul Caddis’s goal claimed a 2-2 draw at Bolton.
McCarthy knows just how Clark, his players and Birmingham’s fans will have felt: "I’ve been there with that one! You get both feelings. You get the absolute joy and delight of staying up - relief.
"Then you get the feeling that you don’t want that to happen again. And you start the season with the intention of not letting it happen again but there’s always that nagging doubt at the back of your head that you don’t want to be there.
"The feeling of relief when it actually happens cannot do your ticker any good. You’re sat there and you’re getting relegated until the last minute. I’ve been there.
"But I tell you what, it’s a lot worse for those that do get relegated. Whatever we think about staying up, the one that got relegated on the last day of the season because of it - Doncaster, wasn’t it? - that is just mind-numbing, it is awful when you go down.”
Part of the reason for Birmingham being in that position was last season’s dreadful form at St Andrew's which saw them achieve a Championship record of an 18-game home winless streak, which came to an end when Wes Thomas’s goal saw them to a 1-0 victory over Brighton on Saturday.
"Somebody said they didn't win for 18 games,” McCarthy added. "Well, they’ve just won and it’s amazing what one win does. You only need one. Let’s hope they’re not like double decker buses!”
The Town boss is likely to stick with Dean Gerken in goal, skipper Luke Chambers at right-back and Christophe Berra and Tommy Smith at the heart of the defence. If he’s looking at bringing fresh legs into his side then Jonny Parr could make his Blues debut at left-back in place of Tyrone Mings.
In central midfield, the Blues manager will probably stick with Cole Skuse and Luke Hyam, but Paul Anderson seems set to replace Elliott Hewitt on the right with Jay Tabb continuing on the left.
Up front, McCarthy may have a decision to make regarding David McGoldrick, who made his first start following his return from six months out with a knee injury on Saturday.
Having played 70 minutes at Reading only three days ago, the Town manager may opt to keep his star striker back for the second half, perhaps handing new loanee Conor Sammon his full Blues debut alongside Daryl Murphy.
Birmingham midfielder David Davis, who played for the Town boss at Wolves, and striker Lee Novak are slight doubts with rib and calf injuries respectively.
Another midfielder Andrew Shinnie could miss out with a back problem, while striker Matt Green and centre-half Gavin Gunning are sidelined long-term by knee injuries.
Birmingham have signed 18-year-old striker Luke Armstrong, the son of ex-Blue Alun following a trial after his release by Middlesbrough at the end of last season.
Last time the sides met, at Portman Road in March, Daryl Murphy’s ninth goal of the season saw Town to a 1-0 victory.
The Blues might have added to their lead in the second half with Paul Taylor twice coming close with curling efforts from just outside the area.
At the end of August at St Andrew’s, Christophe Berra scored his first goal in English football as the sides drew 1-1.
The Scotland international headed home before the break with Town well on top, but Chris Burke’s deflected 76th minute goal grabbed an undeserved point for the home team.
Historically, the Blues have had the better of Birmingham, winning 33 times (30 in the league), drawing 13 (13) and losing 27 (21).
Tonight’s referee is Roger East from Wiltshire, who showed 101 yellow cards and a surprisingly low two red in 29 games last season.
East’s most recent Town match was the 2-0 home defeat to Watford in February 2013 in which he booked four Hornets players and Richard Stearman and Tommy Smith.
Squad from: Gerken, Bialkowski, Chambers, Mings, Parr, Berra, Smith, Skuse, Hyam, Wordsworth, Bru, Anderson, Tabb, Hewitt, Henshall, McGoldrick, Murphy, Sammon, Bajner.