After a 2-0 home defeat to QPR last night, the last thing that Birmingham City boss Pep Clotet would have wanted was a fixture against one of the in-form sides in the country.

However, that's exactly what's happening, with Blues set to host local rivals West Brom on Saturday as they look to get back to winning ways.

Considering the Baggies are unbeaten in 11, have the best away record in the league and rested several key players in the week, many will see this as a certain away win.

Therefore, it's probably not the ideal environment to throw a 20-year-old defender in for his Blues league debut - but that's exactly what Clotet should do with Geraldo Bajrami.

The injury situation that has hit Blues right now is a real problem, with Marc Roberts and Jake Clarke-Salter both absent. That saw Wes Harding come into the XI at centre-back and even though he gives his all, that's not his natural position and he struggled against the R's.

That's Bajrami's best role though and he has impressed regularly for the U23s over recent months and he has also done well for the Albanian U21 side.

One concern is the way the centre-back struggled against Portsmouth back in August, however that was the case for everyone else in what was a much-changed Blues side and one that lacked experience.

It would be a different case on Saturday, and with the reliable Harlee Dean alongside him, Bajrami can be helped through the game.

As well as that, it would be a big vote of confidence to the defender who must secretly be thinking he warrants a start given the injury situation. Academy players are there to help the senior squad and to be called upon when they're needed - which is the case right now.

Some will also say that a heavy defeat against Slaven Bilic's side could harm the player mentally and that is a factor that has to be taken into consideration.

Yet, it's an extremely negative way of looking at things and does a disservice to Bajrami who could thrive under the pressure as we've seen plenty of players do down the years.

A major positive of Clotet's reign so far has been his willingness to include younger players and he needs to stick to that this weekend by throwing Bajrami in at the deep end and seeing how he copes.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.