Premier League preview: Birmingham v Manchester City

Manchester City will have to readjust to life without England international Adam Johnson when they travel to Birmingham City on Wednesday.

City’s push for a maiden top-flight trophy of the English Premier League era faltered on January 22 when they went down 1-0 at Aston Villa thanks to Darren Bent’s goal on debut for the hosts.

The shock defeat, just their second in the past 14 fixtures, saw City fall six points adrift of league leaders and city rivals Manchester United on the table.

And it was compounded by Johnson’s ankle injury in training following the game, with the winger set to miss up to three months with ligament damage.

City boss Roberto Mancini promptly attempted to raid Birmingham for Swedish midfielder Sebastian Larsson, though his transfer bid was blocked by the West Midlands club on Monday’s deadline day.

Nevertheless, Mancini will welcome a trip to St Andrew’s, with Birmingham are struggling to keep themselves above the relegation zone.

The Blues are 17th on the table with 23 points, a mere point away from Wigan Athletic in the drop zone.

Their last time out at league level was a disaster, with Alex McLeish’s men falling 5-0 at the hands of a rampant Manchester United led by goal-machine Dimitar Berbatov on January 22.

But since that game Birmingham have recorded a gutsy 3-1 win over West Ham United in the League Cup and a 3-2 victory over Coventry City in the FA Cup, and McLeish will be hoping to transfer that winning feeling back into their top-flight campaign.

Mancini’s side also kept alive their FA Cup campaign with a 1-1 draw at Notts County on Sunday, notable for Edin Dzeko’s first English goal and the absence of Carlos Tevez.

The prolific Argentine sat out the fourth-round clash with a back complaint and could also miss Wednesday’s trip to Birmingham, joining fellow striker Mario Balotelli (knee) on the sidelines.

The Blues have no fresh injury concerns, and may have some new faces on the pitch in the form of recently acquired Aston Villa defender Curtis Davies and Rubin Kazan attacker Obafemi Martins.