Birmingham City begin their 2021/22 Championship campaign at Bramall Lane on Saturday, with a trip to newly relegated side Sheffield United.

The Blades are expected to be fighting at the top of the table come May and will be a difficult test for Lee Bowyer's men.

Seven new faces have walked through the doors at St Andrew's thus far, as Bowyer continues to create a new look Birmingham City team for this upcoming campaign.

In this piece, we take a look at the latest updates regarding team news ahead of The Blues' season opener in Yorkshire on Saturday...

Matija Sarkic to start

Neil Etheridge is still recovering from being hospitalised with an illness, but the good news is that he is back in training, as reported by Birmingham Live.

This means that Matija Sarkic is expected to make his league debut for the club and he will be hoping to make some good progress in Etheridge's absence.

Defensive situation

Bowyer implemented a three-at-the-back system last season with The Blues and that looks set to continue this time out.

Dion Sanderson has been ruled out of the fixture - who is expected to have a very big year in the Midlands - whilst Juan Castillo is said to be a little behind the core of the team after his recent arrival from Chelsea.

In the pair's absence, Kristian Pedersen or George Friend are the most likely candidates to be called into Bowyer's starting side.

Midfield duo seems an easy pick

Birmingham Live confirmed after Birmingham's 4-0 defeat to West Brom that Ivan Sunjic was going to miss the season opener.

This means that it is highly likely that Ryan Woods and Gary Gardner will be the two who operate centrally come Saturday.

A more advanced midfielder?

In the expected 3-4-1-2 that Bowyer is likely to operate with, there will seemingly be a tussle between Tahith Chong and Ivan Sanchez to determine who will start.

Both players have found more joy operating on the wing in their short careers thus far, but it looks like it will be a pivotal role under Bowyer.

Two up top

The Blues have four good options when it comes to the two starting strikers on Saturday. At present, new signing Chuks Aneke is more likely to come off from the bench.

That leaves Lukas Jutkiewicz, Scott Hogan, and Jonathan Leko. Hogan has proved himself at Championship level and has been in fine form this pre-season, but Bowyer has opted to deploy a front two of Leko and Jutkiewicz more often.