Tony Pulis makes the short journey South to Birmingham City this weekend as he looks to continue his unbeaten start to life as manager of West Bromwich Albion.

The former Stoke City and Crystal Palace boss arrived at The Hawthorns earlier this month with an impressive CV to his name, and so far he has lived up to expectation following a run of impressive results.

Although he watched on from the stands in his side's last outing in the FA Cup - for the start of the game, at least - Pulis no doubt played his part in the Baggies' 7-0 thumping of non-league Gateshead in what was the biggest victory of the third round.

Since then West Brom have picked up four points from two games against Hull City and Everton, the latter of which required a whole lot of defensive resilience to see the game out.

Consistency is the key for the Premier League outfit now, and Pulis has the chance to build some real momentum in Saturday afternoon's Midlands derby meeting at St Andrew's.

They will come up against a Blues side in equally impressive form having turned a corner under Gary Rowett, the former Burton Albion manager guiding his side from relegation candidates into playoff contenders in a short space of time with just two defeats in their last 13 outings.

League duties take a back seat now, though, with a place in the fifth round of the FA Cup up for grabs for the winner, although Birmingham will be counting their lucky stars they are even at this stage following a scare against Blyth Spartans last time out.

In a round devoid of any real major upsets, the lower league opposition came close to pulling off an almighty shock when they took a two-goal lead at Croft Park, before their opponents hit back with three goals of their own in the second half.

Rowett rung the changes for that tie, although he may look to field a more solid-looking side this time out with things looking far steadier in the league, meaning that Lloyd Dyer could be handed a debut against one of his former clubs.

In terms of the visitors, Pulis may opt to give Brown Ideye another shot at impressing up front, while Saido Berahino could get the chance to build on his four-goal showing against Gateshead.

Birmingham City:

Form in all competitions: WLWWWD

Possible starting lineup: Randolph, Caddis, Morrison, Robinson, Grounds, Davis, Gleeson, Dyer, Shinnie, Gray, Donaldson

West Bromwich Albion:

Form in all competitions: LLDWWD

Possible starting lineup: Myhill, Pocognoli, McAuley, Dawson, Baird, Morrison, Brunt, Dorrans, Sessegnon, Anichebe, Ideye

Sports Mole says: 1-3

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