Liam Rosenior says this afternoon’s Premier League clash against Wolverhampton Wanderers is a test of his players’ ‘mentality and character.’
After the disappointment of missing out on the Carabao Cup final, the Blues are looking to get back to winning ways at Molineux.
Rosenior has made two changes to his starting XI, with Cole Palmer in the side and Pedro Neto returning after injury.
Wolves are bottom of the Premier League with just eight points from 24 matches, but Rosenior does not expect an easy afternoon for his side in the Black Country.
'I've analysed and watched their previous few games, their performances have been really good,' said the Blues head coach.
'Against Bournemouth, they were unfortunate to lose the game. Rob (Edwards) is an outstanding coach, and we expect them to play with energy and quality, and be tactically good in the game.
'It’s going to be a big test of the mentality and character of our players and I’m looking forward to seeing how we do.'
In addition to the alterations made to his side, Rosenior appears to have changed our shape, with the Blues returning to a back-four system after deploying a 3-4-3 against Arsenal in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday.
‘When you’ve got good players, it allows you to be more flexible,' our head coach said. 'It’s going to be a difficult test.
'Looking at the Wolves team, we don’t know their shape. They could be going with three strikers or four at the back, so we have to be adaptable, which you have to be to be successful in this league.'
And Palmer starts a Premier League game for the first time since our victory over Brentford last month, and Rosenior is hopeful the England international is getting close to full fitness.
He added: ‘We're still going day by day, game by game. Cole looked really, really well in the last two days of training. He looks really, really good and hopefully that is the case from today onwards.’