Birmingham City latest: Mark Venus update, QPR prediction, Jutkiewicz and Bielik | OneFootball

Birmingham City will be hoping to avoid the drop, with Gary Rowett now at the helm.

Harshly sacked back in 2016, Rowett certainly has unfinished business at Blues and he will be hoping to guide his team to safety.

That may help to provide some closure for the former Millwall boss, after leaving so abruptly during his previous spell.

Tony Mowbray could potentially return to the dugout at some point in the Midlands, but this is a real opportunity for Rowett to make himself an attractive boss to hire.

Having eight games left, the 50-year-old needs to be heavily focused on the short term, with the club sitting just one point above the relegation zone at this stage.

Taking things game by game should give them the best chance of maximising their points tally, but there are no guarantees during what will be a tense end to the season at the bottom end of the Championship table.

They can only look at the present at the moment, and in that spirit, we take a look at some of the latest news headlines involving Blues.

Mark Venus has been placed on gardening leave by Blues, according to Football Insider.

Venus was initially set to return to the dugout alongside Mowbray when the latter returned, but it remains to be seen whether that is still the case with the former leaving his role for now.

The fact Venus is on gardening leave means he won't play a part in Rowett's coaching team, with the 50-year-old opting to bring in some familiar faces to work alongside the likes of Ashley Cole and Peter Shuttleworth.

When Football Insider

Tomorrow's game at Loftus Road could be a crucial one, with Queens Park Rangers just one point above Birmingham at this point and still very much in a relegation battle.

A win for either side could be crucial to them in their quest to avoid the drop - and the arrival of Rowett could boost the visitors.

But Sky Sports pundit David Prutton is going for a 2-2, writing for the outlet: "QPR have had a tough little run of fixtures and they haven’t quite been able to pull away from that bottom three as they would have liked.

"And this is a massive game at Loftus Road as 20th take on 21st.

"Birmingham have acted in bringing in Gary Rowett, which was a necessary move until the end of the season considering their recent run.

"That should elicit some sort of response, and I’ll back them to get a draw here."

Birmingham City team news: Jutkiewicz out, Bielik in contention

Rowett has confirmed to Birmingham Live that Lukas Jutkiewicz will be out of action "for a period" following the knee injury he sustained against Watford.

Marc Roberts is another player who could be out, with the central defender not training at this stage.

Krystian Bielik is back in training after recovering from a stomach injury, which has put him in contention for a place in the matchday squad, but it remains to be seen how many minutes Jordan James and Paik Seung-ho get tomorrow.