Lee Carsley takes charge of his first game as Birmingham City caretaker boss this weekend, following the sacking of Harry Redknapp on Saturday evening.

The former Tottenham manager was relieved of his duties in the aftermath of the Blues home defeat to Preston, and Carsley will guide the team until a suitable replacement is identified.

The former Birmingham and Everton midfielder is set for a baptism of fire, as he takes his men to a Derby County side keen to bounce back from a disappointing 4-1 defeat to Bristol City.

The Rams, led by former Birmingham boss Gary Rowett, will see this game as a must-win, and will pull out all the stops to send the Blues home empty-handed.

Rowett will be keen to get one over on his former employers, and will sympathise with Redknapp, having been sacked by the club himself despite sitting in the playoff spots at the time.

If Birmingham do find themselves behind at Pride Park, as they so often have this season, Carsley will need to make changes to ensure his side leave the game with at least something to take back to St Andrews.

With that in mind, this is what Carsley must do if he finds his side trailing…

David Stockdale will undoubtedly start in goal, and the expected back four of Maxime Colin, Harlee Dean, Marc Roberts and Emilio Nsue will not change barring injury, but substitutions could be made by Carsley in midfield, and a formation change could occur.

Carsley is likely to start in a 4-3-3 set-up, but must revert to a bog-standard 4-4-2 if his side trail in the second half.

Jason Lowe is likely to start in a conservative midfield alongside David Davis and Cheikh Ndoye, but the latter pair could be replaced by the more adventurous Craig Gardner, who is more inclined to roam and join in the attack.

An attacking three most likely to consist of wide men Jeremie Boga and Jacques Maghoma, with Southampton loanee Sam Gallagher leading from the middle.

However when Carsley reverts to a 4-4-2, Lukas Jutkiewicz should come on for the aforementioned Davis to partner Gallagher upfront, with Boga pushed to the left and Maghoma replaced by the dangerous Isaac Vassell on the right.

With these changes, Carsley would have five attacking players capable of finding the back of the net, and instead of sitting back with damage limitation on the mind, the temporary boss should look to get on the front foot and stop fearing teams in a way Redknapp’s sides have arguably appeared to do.

Blues fans, who would you bring off the bench to change the tide of the game this weekend?