Eighth-placed Blues take on ninth-placed Everton at St. Andrew's on Saturday afternoon.

Alex McLeish will be looking for his side to make it three consecutive league wins, following their recent victories over Wigan and Portsmouth.

But David Moyes' side are sure to provide stern opposition.

The Toffees have won six out of their last eight games.

However Blues have the upper hand on the visitors this season with a draw and a victory at Goodison Park in the league and FA Cup respectively.

TEAM NEWS
Blues

Lee Bowyer

Both Kevin Phillips and Lee Bowyer return to the squad after missing Tuesday night's trip to Fratton Park.

Phillips had a slight hamstring problem earlier in the week and Bowyer was ill.

Stuart Parnaby (ankle), Garry O'Connor (hip) and Lee Carsley (ankle) all miss out.

Everton
Tim Cahill and Louis Saha have recovered from their respective calf and thigh injuries and may make the matchday squad.

American loanee Landon Donovan is set to make his final appearance for the Toffees before returning to LA Galaxy for the start of the MLS season.

Marouane Fellaini (ankle) and Leon Osman (groin strain) are definitely out.

LINE-UPS LAST MATCH
Blues (beat Pompey 2-1, away): Hart, Ridgewell, Dann, Gardner, Parnaby (Tainio, 52), Johnson, Fahey, Ferguson, Michel (Larsson, 78), Jerome, Benitez (McFadden, 81).
Subs not used: Murphy, Taylor, Queudrue, Jervis.

Everton (beat Hull 5-1, home): Howard, Heitinga, Baines, Distin, Jagielka, Neville, Pienaar (Gosling, 86), Osman (Rodwell, 45), Arteta, Yakubu, Anichebe (Donovan, 70).
Subs not used: Yobo, Nash, Bilyaletdinov, Hibbert.

Alex McLeish

MANAGER'S COMMENTS
Alex McLeish
"Everton are still favourites to catch us in this particular campaign.

"We fancy ourselves at St. Andrew's but Everton are a great side and they were brilliant last week.

"They will be coming here showing a lot of confidence but we've got to show the same sort of spirit that we've shown at St. Andrew's since day one this season and make sure that Everton are going back up the road to Liverpool thinking that was the last place we wanted to go to.

"Things are looking good but you can't rest for a moment or get complacent.

"We need to keep the drive and keep the composure and keep the winning mentality.

"It was another shot in the arm the other night with the performance against Portsmouth especially coming back from the FA Cup defeat.

"That speaks volumes for the mentality again.

"It's incredible the heights they have scaled this season.

"The secret is to keep it going and for the players to turn up for their work every week with the same performance levels."

MAN IN THE MIDDLE

Referee Lee Probert

Referee Lee Probert will take charge of Saturday's game.

The Wiltshire-based official has refereed 24 games so far this season, in which he has produced a total of 92 yellow cards and four reds.

The last Blues game he took charge of was in February when Blues beat Wolves 2-1 at St. Andrew's in a Barclays Premier League fixture.

On that occasion he booked no less than nine players including Lee Bowyer, Scott Dann, Barry Ferguson, Joe Hart and Roger Johnson for Blues.

Mr Probert will be assisted by Andy Halliday from North Yorkshire and Nick Kinseley from Essex.

PREVIOUS MEETINGS
Both sets of players will be familiar with each other as this is the third time the clubs have met this season.

The two previous encounters were both at Goodison Park.

Blues drew 1-1 in the league in December, Seb Larsson equalising Diniyar Bilyaletdinov's fifth minute opener.

Chucho scores in the FA Cup win against Everton

Four weeks later McLeish's men returned to Merseyside to record a fourth round win in the FA Cup thanks to goals from Chucho and Barry Ferguson, Leon Osman got the hosts' reply in the 2-1 Blues victory.

Over the years, however, it's Everton who have enjoyed the better of the meetings with 58 league wins compared to Blues' 24.

Blues have only beaten Everton once in the Barclays Premier League which was a 3-0 victory at St. Andrew's in 2004, Damien Johnson, Stan Lazaridis and Mikael Forssell getting the goals.

Everton's last success at St. Andrew's came in October 2005, a 1-0 victory.

BETTING
Despite being the away side and below Blues in the league, Bet 365 have Everton down as favourites to win the game at odds of 7/5.

The draw is priced at 9/4 and a Blues victory at 2/1

For the full range of markets available, please click here.

Remember every bet you make with Bet365 benefits the club.

WEATHER FORECAST
The weather forecast for Birmingham on Saturday is a sunny day with a maximum temperature of ten degrees Centigrade.

MATCH COMMENTARY
You can listen to full 90 minutes commentary from St. Andrew's on Blues Player.

To access Blues player, please click here.

The official website, bcfc.com, will have a match report on the site minutes after the final whistle.

TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets are still available for Saturday's game priced from £9 for under 12's, £14 for concessions and £23 for adults.

For more information and purchasing details please click here.

Please note that the Kop Ticket Office at St. Andrew's will remain open until 8pm today Friday (March 12).

OTHER BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE FEATURES ON SATURDAY
Bolton vs Wigan
Burnley vs Wolves
Chelsea vs West Ham
Hull vs Arsenal
Stoke vs Aston Villa
Tottenham vs Blackburn