Birmingham v West Brom - Match preview

The head coach is considering how he lines his Baggies up against Blues after Albion extended an unbeaten run to five games and made it back-to-back wins by seeing off basement boys Sheffield Wednesday in midweek.

But this evening’s visitors are at the end of a run of Saturday-Tuesday-Friday fixtures heading into an international break. Albion’s unbeaten form has seen Corberan change plenty in his modest-sized squad.

He made five changes in consecutive games against Millwall and Preston, but just the one alteration against the Owls on Tuesday – which he was forced into through Grady Diangana’s illness.

“There is no one rule in this situation,” Corberan said. “The best moment to change things is when you are winning football games.

“It’s like a commitment – when the players go, they know they need to play well because you can add more players to the squad. At the same time, when you find stability in the team, it’s difficult to change, because you can break the harmony of the players who are playing together.

“The answer is to find a good balance, and to find consistency. It’s more important in this case to evaluate how the players are, evaluate the players who weren’t playing to see what they can bring.

“The work of the coach is like an art – one part is purely subjective. As soon as something is subjective, you have to use your intuition. Part of this decision is about analysing the opponent too.”

“When you understand which context will be better and you understand the type of game you’ll be playing and expect to play, you need to mix everything and put the line-up – the line-up is half important.

“It’ll tell you the players who start, but you never win the game with only players from the start. It’s about the changes, and how they compete and perform.”

Diangana trained yesterday after his illness and defender Semi Ajayi is available for selection after a small ankle problem.

Blues, though, present a real challenge. Their 4-1 win over Huddersfield on Tuesday ended a run of five winless league games but the club are on an upward trajectory following a long-awaited takeover. Some of St Andrew’s will reopen tonight in a test event and former Kidderminster boss Eustace’s squad was healthily refreshed in the summer and now contains some impressive young talents.

Winger Siriki Dembele, a summer addition from Bournemouth, has been chief tormentor of opposition so far and fired a brace in Tuesday’s win. Fulham loan forward Jay Stansfield has caught the eye, as has Japanese midfield recruit Koji Miyoshi.

“They have one of the good squads in the Championship,” the head coach said. “They made a high investment in the squad. Maybe the last game was the first game where they were able to put good players, who they brought to the club, together on the pitch.

“They signed some good players and they suffered injuries, but the other day against Huddersfield was the first time they could put key players together. The result talks. I don’t need to say any words.

“They have players who can make a difference in the Championship. Dembele was in the Premier League and, after moving to France, he was with Peterborough and then helped Bournemouth win promotion to the Premier League. Stansfield was in Fulham making a good season in League One, now he is here and scoring goals.

“They have possibilities in attack. They have a very good squad in general, one squad which they’ve now played together and they competed really, really, really well.”