Crystal Palace will go into tonight’s televised game against Birmingham City looking to preserve their unbeaten home run that stretches back to September 17 and their 1-0 defeat to Middlesbrough.

The Eagles have drawn the last four at Selhurst Park though and their hopes of going one better tonight will not be helped by the absence of Wilfried Zaha, who picked up his fifth booking of the season in last week’s win at Nottingham Forest.

But the return to winning ways in Nottingham ended a long winless run and Palace could move up to seventh with another victory tonight.

They will have to defy recent history to do so however, as Palace have not beaten Birmingham since February 2005’s 2-0 victory in the Premier League.

They will be without left back Dean Moxey (knee) and Dekel Keinan (ankle), while Jonathan Williams (broken leg), Lee Hills (knee) and Alex Marrow (ankle) are all long-term absentees.

Birmingham will now be looking to concentrate fully on domestic matters after their Europa League exit last week.

And the Blues will be boosted by the return of skipper Stephen Carr while Steven Caldwell, Boaz Myhill and Marlon King are expected to return to the squad after being rested for their European tie against Maribor on Thursday. The game has come too soon for Liam Ridgewell (thigh) though who will miss out.