• Adam Armstrong has scored seven goals in his last nine Championship games

• Armstrong has netted 11 times in 11 previous matches against Birmingham

• Recommended Bet: Adam Armstrong to Score Anytime

Birmingham entertain Southampton at St Andrew's in a meeting between two clubs stuck in mid-table and keen to end their festive winless runs.

The Blues enter the final weekend of December still searching for consistency.

A run of mixed results has left them hovering in the lower half of the table and their home form remains a concern, with points proving hard to come by in front of their own supporters.

Saints, meanwhile, have hit a sticky patch after initially embarking on a superb sequence under new coach Tonda Eckert.

A 2-1 defeat at Oxford on Boxing Day left them five points adrift of the play-off places, with Eckert admitting his side got what they deserved.

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Team news

City captain Christoph Klarer serves the first match of a three-game suspension after seeing red against Derby County for a high challenge on Ebou Adams.

Blues had already lost Demarai Gray to a muscular injury 15 minutes into the 1-1 Boxing Day draw and boss Chris Davies expects to be without his talismanic left-winger on Monday.

Elsewhere, Alex Cochrane is unlikely to be fit and Tommy Doyle is also suspended, so Phil Neumann is expected to fill in for Klarer and Eirin Cashin might have to continue at left-back.

As for Southampton, Tom Fellows and captain Jack Stephens returned to start in place of Welington and Joshua Quarshie at Oxford.

Eckert is still without midfielder Shea Charles and defender Mads Roerslev, while striker Ross Stewart is back in training but still some way off a first-team return.

Elias Jelert could be added to the squad that was on duty at Kassam Stadium.

The stats

Only Coventry (281) and Ipswich (252) have registered more shots in the Championship than Southampton (247).

Birmingham have conceded exactly once in their last four matches at St Andrew's.

Southampton have hit the woodwork more times than any other club in the division (12).

The Blues have had four players sent off this season, more than any other Championship club.

Saints striker Adam Armstrong tops the table of goalscorers with 11 so far this term.

The latest Birmingham vs Southampton odds to be available on LiveScore Bet

Prediction

Only Leicester have conceded more goals than Birmingham in the last six rounds of the Championship and their defensive frailties look likely to be put to the test again on Monday.

Southampton are the fourth-highest scorers in the division and almost a third of their 37 league goals have been scored by Adam Armstrong.

The former Blackburn striker has always been a reliable goal-getter at this level and, although he has failed to find the back of the net in Saints' last three games, his ability to sniff out chances remains.

The striker's instinctive close-range volley was well saved by Oxford keeper Jamie Cumming on Friday, denying Armstrong a 12th Championship goal of the campaign.

He loves facing Birmingham too, having bagged a remarkable tally of 11 goals in 11 previous matches against the Blues, including a brace in a 3-1 win at St Mary's earlier this month.

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