Sanderson & Yokoyama start as seven changes made in Birmingham City predicted XI for Lincoln
Chris Davies will say he is only focussed on the next game but Birmingham City’s manager is far too meticulous a planner to not have an XI in mind for Tuesday’s Vertu Trophy clash with Swindon Town.
Before Blues travel to Swindon’s County Ground, they take on League One rivals Lincoln City in the third round of the FA Cup. Ordinarily, that would take precedent over the Vertu Trophy, but Blues are desperate to emulate Barry Fry’s double winners of 1994/95 during their foray into the third tier.
It therefore wouldn’t be a surprise to see Davies field a stronger XI in the Vertu Trophy and ring the changes for Lincoln. The Blues boss is already set to be without Krystian Bielik, Jay Stansfield, Keshi Anderson and Emil Hansson, plus long-term injury casualty Lee Buchanan.
Davies has effectively confirmed Bailey Peacock-Farrell will start in goal against Lincoln. Alfons Sampsted is fit again and Ethan Laird is due a rest after his heroics at Wigan last week. Alex Cochrane might have to start at left-back in that case.
With Bielik out, Davies has to choose whether to rest Christoph Klarer or Ben Davies if he wants to give minutes to Dion Sanderson. Klarer’s leadership skills could be important to an XI expected to include lots of changes.
Marc Leonard will surely anchor midfield to give Tomoki Iwata a well-earned rest. Taylor Gardner-Hickman could also be afforded a rare outing in midfield after filling in out wide in Blues’ first two matches of 2025.
Scott Wright and Ayumu Yokoyama are in line to start on the flanks having played limited football for very different reasons. Wright hasn’t started a game in three months due to injury, while Yokoyama isn’t deemed ready for league starts yet.
If Luke Harris keeps his place in the number 10 position then Lyndon Dykes is favourite to start up front. Davies could, of course, do what he did in the last round when Blues beat Blackpool and field Dykes off veteran centre-forward Lukas Jutkiewicz.
Our XI includes seven changes from the victory at Wigan. Klarer, Cochrane, Gardner-Hickman and Harris would be the only players to keep their spots.
Predicted Blues XI for Lincoln…
(4-2-3-1): Peacock-Farrell; Sampsted, Sanderson, Klarer, Cochrane; Leonard, Gardner-Hickman; Wright, Harris, Yokoyama; Dykes
Would you be happy with this? Let us know in the comments HERE
READ MORE: Relive the biggest upsets from the World’s greatest domestic cup competition
