Birmingham boss John Eustace has hit out at the fixture schedulers as his side prepares to face Sunderland on Friday night just 72 hours after they were in action on Tuesday - while the Black Cats have enjoyed a free week. The Blues needed a last-minute goal from Troy Deeney to salvage a point against Swansea City at St Andrew's on Tuesday, extending their unbeaten home run to six games.
But while Eustace's men were given an energy-sapping test by the Swans, Sunderland have had no game since Saturday's home defeat against Cardiff City meaning they will have had six days to prepare for Friday's match in the Midlands, which was brought forward from Saturday to allow it to be shown live on Sky Sports. "The schedule of the league is really tough," said Eustace.
"It's not right - we play too many games in a short period of time. To go again on Friday now, with Sunderland not playing this week, it's poor.
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"But the group of players who we pick on Friday will be determined, they'll be 100 percent ready, and we'll see where that takes us."
Birmingham's point lifted them to tenth in the table, four points above the 17th-placed Black Cats - although Sunderland have played one fewer game. Looking ahead to Friday's game, Eustace said: "We need to be competitive, we need to be hard to play against.
"There are going to be some tired bodies, for sure, but they will be ready and we want to put on another fighting performance. Win, lose, or draw, everyone can see that we're committed and that we go to the end and that's what I expect again on Friday."
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