New signing in doubt as Birmingham City visit Sheffield Wednesday - but duo could return

The 30-year-old midfielder joined the Blues towards the end of the January transfer window from Sunderland, and didn’t have to wait long for his debut as he went straight into Tony Mowbray’s XI against West Bromwich Albion.

Pritchard couldn’t finish the game, though, as he went off at half time in the 1-0 defeat, and Mowbray says that this evening’s game may have come around too quickly for him to be available. Dion Sanderson and John Ruddy are also unlikely to feature.

Speaking ahead of the encounter the Birmingham boss told the media, “Pritchard had a tight calf at half-time and we decided to take him off, without definitely saying it, I think this Friday might be a little bit too soon for him. Dion is still a week or two away and John Ruddy is a few days away from getting back into training I think, so he won’t be ready for Friday night. He is pretty close to coming back.”

Cody Drameh and Lukas Jutkiewicz, however, could be back in action at Hillsborough, with Mowbray explaining that a late decision is going to be made on their availability.

He said, “Both have joined training and I think we’re going to take them both with us to Sheffield. It’s important to get them back travelling with the team. They will both be coming and we’ll assess whether we think they are ready for the bench or not.”