Blues to rest top men with one eye on Cats crunch

Birmingham City manager Steve Cotterill takes his side to Huddersfield Town in the FA Cup fourth round tomorrow.

But he will have an eye on Tuesday’s crucial Sky Bet Championship battle with relegation rivals Sunderland.

As a result, the Blues are set to make a string of changes to take on David Wagner’s Premier League outfit.

Former Black Cats midfielder Craig Gardner is fit to face the Terriers, having recovered from the groin problem which kept him out of last weekend’s 1-1 draw at Preston.

“Craig Gardner is back in training and will be involved, but I don’t know how much at this moment in time,” Cotterill told bcfc.com.

“There might also be a couple of the younger player that are in the 18.

“We’ll make changes on Saturday, but we still want to go and do ourselves justice and we’re mindful of the supporters travelling.

“And, of course, we want to keep that little run going and build some confidence.

“We’ve prepared for this game like we have for every game.

“There have not been any changes in terms of the amount of effort, time, planning or preparation that’s been put in.

“We just happen to be playing a Premier League team this weekend, which is good for us.

“What you want to come out of this game is not only a win, but also those lads that are given a chance to giveyouanudgesaying,‘I’mstillhere gaffer’. “You want that competition.” Cotterill could be tempted to hand opportunities to some of Birmingham’s younger squad members, allowing some firstchoicementorestupaheadofthebig St Andrews date with Sunderland.