Birmingham City v Stoke City Tip

Birmingham look overpriced at best odds of 3/1 (Betfred) to beat Stoke in the Capital One Cup on Tuesday night having knocked out Swansea 3-1 in the previous round.

The gap between struggling Premier League outfits and any Championship team never looks too great in this competition, particularly when home advantage favours the underdog. The Potters may have performed well at Old Trafford at the weekend, but by the end it was just a fourth game in a row without a win (D1 L3).

Admittedly, Blues have also generally had a bad time of things in the league, but there was a morale-boosting 1-1 draw salvaged away to Derby at the weekend. They also beat Millwall 4-0 at the start of October and Wednesday 4-1 last month, so good days do still occur at St Andrews in particular.

With a place in the quarter-finals up for grabs, there could be further respite for Birmingham boss Lee Clark just around the corner.