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Birmingham City face another huge clash this weekend as they welcome Bristol City to St Andrrew's.
The Blues will be fighting for their Championship survival in the next few weeks as they sit just three points ahead of the drop zone, with 22nd-placed Rotherham having three games in hand on them.
That will soon be four and Birmingham cannot risk dropping more points after not even having a shot on target last week in their defeat to Barnsley.
Lets round-up the latest news coming out of the blue half of England's second city, which includes some stadium news and a chance for two promising youngsters.
Karanka admits concern at Rotherham postponements
Birmingham's manager was fiercely critical of Rotherham United this week after they had another string of matches postponed due to positive COVID-19 tests.
Karanka suggested that Rotherham playing their matches later in the season is favourable to them as their opposition will know their positions, but he's since backed down somewhat.
"It was not a complaint, it is just the reality," said Karanka.
"I think in this period everybody has to be careful and it is difficult because we are receiving mail and calls from the EFL and everywhere telling us that we have to be careful."
Youngsters given a chance in first team training
Results have improved recently, but Karanka still looks to be pondering using some of Birmingham's young under-23 stars.
Joining in with first team training this week have been forwards Keyendrah Simmonds and Oriol Soldevilla, who joined from Manchester City and Barcelona respectively, and with Birmingham's attack pretty blunt all season, they may be giving the manager something to think about.
"You can see his quality but he needs time and needs to realise it is a long path in front of him," Karanka told the Birmingham Mail when talking about Simmonds.
Blues given pitch boost by Coventry
Coventry City's return to the Ricoh Arena next season was confirmed yesterday - and that's a good thing for the Blues.
Birmingham have been paid by the Sky Blues for sharing St Andrew's Stadium for the last two seasons, however it has come at a cost, with the actual pitch looking worse for wear.
It's not helped with the jam-packed current season due to COVID-19, but the good thing is that Birmingham will have the pitch to themselves from the start of next season, which means that the football should be a lot better to watch.
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