Birmingham City vs Sheffield Wednesday Prediction: Rooney looking for first win with Birmingham

Birmingham City will welcome Sheffield Wednesday at St. Andrew's Stadium in Game Week 17 of the English Championship. Rooney is still to win a game with Birmingham in the Championship. Who will come out on top after 90 minutes?

Birmingham's decision to replace their established manager, John Eustace, with what seems like an experimental appointment in Rooney, is becoming increasingly questionable as each game goes by. The team, who were once contenders for promotion, now find themselves seven points behind the playoffs due to four defeats in their last five matches under Rooney. This small margin highlights how much better off Birmingham could have been if they had not made a change in manager and style of play. Rooney, however, is hopeful that the extra time spent on the training pitch will pay off. However, with the team conceding eight goals in their last three games, this optimism may be misplaced. In fact, Birmingham has only led in one out of their five games under Rooney. Despite a 2-2 draw against Ipswich Town in their last home match at St Andrew's, Rooney witnessed his team surrender a lead in the final 11 minutes.

Ruddy; Laird, Sanderson, Aiwu, Drameh; Bielik, Sunjic; Miyoshi, Dembele, Bacuna; Stansfield

Sheffield Wednesday can draw encouragement from such occurrences; however, there has been very little positivity at the Yorkshire club recently. Only six points have been obtained from 16 matches, with their only victory under new manager Danny Rohl coming against Rotherham United. Despite this, they have conceded nine goals in their other four games without scoring a single goal themselves, including a 4-0 defeat at home to Millwall in their most recent match. They currently sit 10 points behind 19th place, but there is still hope for Wednesday. Rohl is fully aware that he must find the right solution sooner rather than later to address the growing dissatisfaction both on and off the pitch.

Dawson; Iorfa, Diaby, Bernard; Palmer, Hendrick, Bannan, Johnson; Windass, Musaba; Fletcher

Both of these clubs were in need of a break, and the international break couldn't have come at a better time. As a result, we can expect to witness an improved level of performance. Despite this, it is challenging to determine which team will come out on top, hence our prediction of a close victory for the home side. Expect a low scoring game.