Birmingham City are back on home turf this evening for a League One bout with fellow promotion contenders Stockport County.
With Blues third and Stockport fourth going into this round of fixtures, both teams have the chance to land a significant blow in the race for promotion to the Championship.
Blues bounced back from their surprise defeat to Shrewsbury Town with back-to-back wins over Exeter City and Blackpool last week.
Dave Challinor’s Stockport have acclimatised well to life in League One following promotion and have won their last three league matches against Bolton, Wrexham and Burton without conceding.
Blues will pose a much sterner test of their credentials and are still unbeaten at St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park in the league. Blues have won five of their seven League One matches in B9.
Alex Dicken is in position at St Andrew’s to bring you live updates, analysis and reaction…
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Birmingham City closed the gap on the League One leaders with a 2-0 win over promotion rivals Stockport County courtesy of a brace from Alfie May.
May struck twice in the first half to send Stockport packing and claw back ground on Wycombe Wanderers and Wrexham. Third-placed Blues trail top-of-the-table Wycombe by three points with a game-in-hand.
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It's all over
Blues have beaten Stockport 2-0 at St Andrew's!
They inflict another blow on a promotion rival to maintain their unbeaten home record. It's Alfie May's night after his brace settled it.
Two more changes
Luke Harris and Marc Leonard have replaced Stansfield and Willumsson for the final few minutes plus stoppages.
Anderson replaced by Laird
Keshi Anderson has now made way for Ethan Laird. A good evening's work for Anderson with two assists. The only frustration was the yellow card he picked up that will see him miss the trip to Barnsley on Saturday.
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Lyndon Dykes is on
First Blues change of the evening sees Lyndon Dykes replace Alfie May. May takes the acclaim for his brace - his first goals in L1 since October 1.
The second half begins
The second half has kicked off and Stockport have made three changes to their line-up.
Callum Camps, Jack Diamond and Isaac Olaofe have come on for Oliver Norwood, Ibou Touray and Lewis Bate.
No trains from Bordesley
The stadium announcer has just told supporters inside St Andrew's that there will be no trains from Bordesley after the match due to signal failure.
HT: Blues 2-0 Stockport
Alfie May at the double for Blues who have been by far the better side at St Andrew's. Credit to Ryan Allsop too for another big contribution just before half-time.
Blues can't move up the League One table this evening but they will move to within three points of leaders Wycombe, with a game-in-hand, if the score stays the same.
Allsop to the rescue
Take a bow, Ryan Allsop! Outrageous double save from Barry and Wootton.
Barry angled the first shot towards the bottom corner but Allsop got a strong hand down to his right to it before the goalkeeper reacted sharply to thwart Wootton at the rebound. Another big moment for the Brummie between Blues' sticks.
Alfie May scores again!
Goals are just like buses for Alfie May who has just bagged his second of the night!
It's the same combination for Blues with Anderson squaring the ball for May to score from close range. Iwata and Stansfield deserve plenty of credit for setting Anderson away down the right.
May puts Blues ahead!
Alfie May has given Blues the lead in the 26th minute.
It was an awful throw out by Stockport goalkeeper Ben Hinchcliffe and Anderson picked up possession before advancing into the box and pulling the ball back for May to fire home from 10 yards. The ball took a little deflection on the way through but it's definitely May's goal.
That is May's first goal in League One since he netted the winner against Huddersfield on October 1. The striker had gone seven league games without a goal but is now back in his favoured position and back amongst the goals.
Anderson puts it wide
Decent chance for Anderson at the near post after a lovely delivery by Cochrane from the left.
Anderson couldn't quite guide the ball inside the post.
Collar goes close
Very close to a Stockport opener inside five minutes. Barry frees Collar on the right and his effort hits the underside of the crossbar but doesn't cross the line.
We've kicked off
Stockport get us underway at St Andrew's after another rousing rendition of Keep Right On.
They go long straight away to target man Kyle Wootton but Blues quickly regain possession and begin their build-up from the back.
Almost time
The teams are out and ready for kick-off!
Blues are expecting another bumper attendance this evening. Midweek games can often be hard sells but around 25,000 are expected inside St Andrew's.
The fan park is going off
The press room is 100 yards or so away from the newly-built fan park and we can hear the place rocking.
Blues chairman Tom Wagner and director Andrew Shanahan have spent some time in the fan park this evening after jetting in from the United States for this game.
The 1,300 or so fans that have been allowed entry seem to having a good time. And there are plenty queuing up outside too!
Stockport team news
The on-loan Villa man is expected to play off the left, behind County's Kidderminster-born striker Kyle Wootton.
Ex-Blues player Odin Bailey is named among Stockport's substitutes.
Blues team news
Chris Davies has reverted to the same starting XI that defeated Exeter City last week with recalls for 10 players.
Krystian Bielik is again expected to start at right-back with Alfie May up top and Jay Stansfield to the left.
Lukas Jutkiewicz is given a place on the bench after his FA Cup heroics at Blackpool at the expense of Ayumu Yokoyama.
(4-2-3-1): Allsop; Bielik, Klarer, Davies, Cochrane; Iwata, Paik; Anderson, Willumsson, Stansfield; May
Subs: Peacock-Farrell, Laird, Gardner-Hickman, Leonard, Harris, Jutkiewicz, Dykes
Who plays at right-back?
Chris Davies has an interesting decision to make at right-back to combat the obvious threat of League One's top scorer Louie Barry - who is, of course, on loan from Blues' fierce rivals Aston Villa.
Krystian Bielik played as an inverted right-back against Exeter City but Davies has more natural fits Ethan Laird and Taylor Gardner-Hickman at his disposal. Team news isn't far away now....
Good evening
Hello from a bitterly cold St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park where Blues face promotion rivals Stockport County. Chris Davies' side are going in search of back-to-back league wins for the first time in over a month, although admittedly we have had an international break during that time.
Blues have bounced back from their defeat to Shrewsbury Town with wins over Exeter City and Blackpool in quick succession. Stockport arrive at St Andrew's having won their last three league games without conceding a goal.
The view from ‘The 12’ which opens tonight alongside the #BCFC fan park.
— Alex Dicken (@alexedicken) December 4, 2024
Blues go in search of a sixth home league win of the season against Stockport. pic.twitter.com/f5XipcwGtw
