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Wanderers are sweating on the fitness of Karl Henry and Darren Pratley for tonight’s big showdown with Birmingham City at the Macron Stadium.
Both midfielders were missing for the Good Friday defeat at Leeds United but could return to the starting line-up if medical staff give them clearance.
Henry has a minor hamstring injury while Pratley took a knock on his shin last week which required a pain-killing injection.
“When we had a two-week break and then found we were missing two players with such leadership quality it was a blow,” said the Wanderers boss. But I thought Derik Osede, Jan Kirchhoff and Josh Vela were excellent in the midfield against Leeds.
“We’ll take a look at Karl and Darren and make a decision. But they have got a chance, yes.”
Wanderers have reduced ticket prices to £15 for adults, £7 for concessions and £1 for Under-18s (when bought with an adult ticket) and are expecting their biggest crowd of the season.
Birmingham have sold out their 4,500 allocation and arrive at the Macron in confident mood, having climbed out of the bottom three with a weekend win against Ipswich Town.
“It’ll be a big crowd and a big atmosphere,” Parkinson said. “We’re looking forward to it. We’ll dust ourselves down and go again.
“When every season draws to an end the tension mounts at every level but we’ve got a lot of experience in the camp and players who have been there before.
“I am expecting us to handle a home game like we did the Sunderland, Villa or Bristol City games, high profile, we’ve done it well.
“I’m confident in the characters we’ve got out there. I think we’ve got players who’ll dig in.”
Parkinson says he took enough from the Leeds game to suggest he won’t need to make major alterations to his side tonight.
“There are plenty of good parts to take from the Leeds game,” he said. “I don’t approach the game any differently. We’ve played the same shape and manner home and away.”
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Both midfielders were missing for the Good Friday defeat at Leeds United but could return to the starting line-up if medical staff give them clearance.
Henry has a minor hamstring injury while Pratley took a knock on his shin last week which required a pain-killing injection.
“When we had a two-week break and then found we were missing two players with such leadership quality it was a blow,” said the Wanderers boss. But I thought Derik Osede, Jan Kirchhoff and Josh Vela were excellent in the midfield against Leeds.
“We’ll take a look at Karl and Darren and make a decision. But they have got a chance, yes.”
Wanderers have reduced ticket prices to £15 for adults, £7 for concessions and £1 for Under-18s (when bought with an adult ticket) and are expecting their biggest crowd of the season.
Birmingham have sold out their 4,500 allocation and arrive at the Macron in confident mood, having climbed out of the bottom three with a weekend win against Ipswich Town.
“It’ll be a big crowd and a big atmosphere,” Parkinson said. “We’re looking forward to it. We’ll dust ourselves down and go again.
“When every season draws to an end the tension mounts at every level but we’ve got a lot of experience in the camp and players who have been there before.
“I am expecting us to handle a home game like we did the Sunderland, Villa or Bristol City games, high profile, we’ve done it well.
“I’m confident in the characters we’ve got out there. I think we’ve got players who’ll dig in.”
Parkinson says he took enough from the Leeds game to suggest he won’t need to make major alterations to his side tonight.
“There are plenty of good parts to take from the Leeds game,” he said. “I don’t approach the game any differently. We’ve played the same shape and manner home and away.”
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