The only thing that can sometimes detract from a big Cup game against Premiership opposition can be the squad rotation policy employed by the bigger Club.

Although we all enjoyed the game at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea in January 2006, the day would have been that little bit better if we had seen Nathan Clarke and Andy Holdsworth having to compete against the real big names like Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba as opposed to Lassana Diarra and Carlton Cole.

However, Birmingham City coach Roy Aitken has told his club's official website that he expects their side to look very similar to the eleven that impressed during a 1-0 defeat at Manchester United on New Year's Day, meaning that Town fans can look forward to seeing international-class players such as Fabrice Muamba and Rahdi Jaidi at the Galpharm tomorrow!

January 5^th has not been an overly successful date for Town, with the last Huddersfield win on the date ironically coming against Birmingham City in 1929 - a 2-1 win at St. Andrews courtesy of goals from George Brown and Bob Kelly. Since then, Town have failed to win any of the eight games they have played on the date.

TEAM NEWS - TOWN

Andy Ritchie has hinted that a change in formation could be employed by Town for tomorrow's game as centre-back Nathan Clarke misses out through suspension having accumulated five yellow cards throughout the season. The obvious ploy would be to play Frank Sinclair in the heart of the defence alongside Dave Mirfin and switch Andy Holdsworth to right-back, but Ritchie was adamant that Holdsworth's energy is needed in midfield - especially given that skipper Jon Worthington is likely to miss out with a hamstring problem.

The Town boss has ruled out playing Tom Clarke for the bug Cup tie, citing the young defender's lack of games since recovering from his cruciate ligament problem as the reason for his admission. Along with Worthington, Danny Cadamarteri is still unavailable due to a case of tendonitis and Alex Smithies will continue on the bench as goalkeeping backup to Matt Glennon as Simon Eastwood continues to recover from his fractured foot.

TEAM NEWS - BIRMINGHAM

Blues manager Alex McLeish is without midfielder Damien Johnson, striker Olivier Kapo and on-loan defender Rafael Schmitz for tomorrow's game through injury and midfielder Mehdi Nafti - who played at Old Trafford on January 1^st - looks unlikely to play as he struggles against a virus. With the midfield options depleted, 16-year old Jordon Mutch has been added to the squad to gain some experience; if he features, he would become the youngest player to ever feature for Birmingham's first-team.

Either way, McLeish will need to find a replacement for Nafti as he takes charge in his first ever English FA Cup game and the obvious choice would be on-loan midfielder Wilson Palacios, although his loan spell at St. Andrew's is coming to an end soon and McLeish may be keen to play a permanent squad member in the game.

Also ruled out of playing in the game have been fringe players Neil Danns, Martin Taylor and Rowan Vine; with the transfer window now open, these three look set to leave the Club and being Cup-tied would not aid their appeal to other clubs.

htafc.com's predicted line-up:

GK Maik Taylor

DR Stephen Kelly

DL Franck Queudrue

DC Rahdi Jaidi

DC Liam Ridgewell

MR Sebastien Larsson

ML Gary McSheffrey

MC Fabrice Muamba

MC Wilson Palacios

S Cameron Jerome

S Mikael Forssell

ONE TO WATCH - CAMERON JEROME

It's an obvious choice, but Birmingham striker Jerome must be relishing his return to his hometown Club tomorrow and he would no doubt love to grab the headlines with a goal at the Galpharm tomorrow.

The 21-year old spent a short time with the Town Academy at under-13 level before dropping out of football for a while, eventually ending up at Cardiff City where he hit the headlines in the 05/06 season with twenty goals. A move to Birmingham for a fee that could rise to £3.5 million followed and the England under-21 forward has impressed since Alex McLeish's arrival at the Club, using his pace and power to trouble Premiership defences and netting five goals so far this term.

The battle between Jerome and our own merchant of pace and power, David Mirfin, promises to be an intriguing one tomorrow!

For ticket information on tomorrow's game against Birmingham City, click HERE