Rooney Makes Two Changes For Birmingham City Clash

Manager Wayne Rooney has made two changes to the side which drew 1-1 with Nottingham Forest prior to the international break for this evening’s Sky Bet Championship clash against Birmingham City (8pm kick-off).

Both changes are enforced changes as Craig Forsyth misses the first of three fixtures following his retrospective ban issued following the game against Forest, whilst Kamil Jozwiak is also unavailable after playing for Poland in their 1-1 draw against England on Wednesday night.

However, there is a return to the starting line-up for striker Sam Baldock who missed the clash with Forest due to a minor hamstring injury. The striker, who scored on his debut in a 1-0 victory against Hull City at the MKM Stadium last month, will lead the line for Derby this evening.

Elsewhere, Lee Buchanan makes only his second league start of the season following Forsyth’s enforced absence at left-back.

Republic of Ireland international Jason Knight makes a welcome return to the substitutes bench for this evening’s game. The midfielder suffered an ankle injury during pre-season training but is now back in contention and available for selection.

Birmingham City: Sarkic, Colin, Pedersen, Roberts, Woods, Chong, Hogan, Jutkiewicz, Bela, Dean ©, Sunjic.

Substitutes: Trueman, Friend, Aneke, McGree, Gardner, Sanderson, Deeney.

Derby County: Roos, Byrne, Davies, Jagielka, Buchanan, Shinnie, Bird, Sibley, Morrison, Lawrence (C), Baldock.

Substitutes: Allsop, Stearman, Williams, Brown, Watson, Knight, Stretton.