Blackpool's Tuesday night shocker at Burnley will have given boss Simon Grayson plenty to ponder ahead of the tough trip to Birmingham City on Saturday.

Coming on the back of two good wins, it was a night to forget at Turf Moor, and the players have to pick themselves up for what is likely to be a severe test against Birmingham City, who are level with leaders Wolves at the top of the Championship table.

Memories of the 7-1 defeat to the Blues on New Year’s Eve during the 1994-95 season, when Sam Allardyce’s team was put to the sword are difficult to avoid this week.

The Blues are now managed by Alex McLeish, and had an impressive win at Bristol City on Tuesday night.

Grayson will be hoping Steve Kabba, who missed the Burnley debacle through injury, will be fit to play.

He was sorely missed, at a time when his confidence and form had just soared to the level where he was lifting the side with his goal threat and all round play.

If he is fit he will partner Burgess in attack.

The defence is likely to remain unchanged again, though Joe Martin may be preferred to Mo Camara, who had a difficult night at Burnley, at left back.

So the manager’s main deliberations will concern the midfield, where Grayson is still looking for his ideal blend. He will choose from Southern, Jorgensen, Vaughan, Taylor-Fletcher, Gow, Hammill and Fox.

It will be interesting to see if Grayson adopts a midfield five or an orthodox four. He came under criticism for playing with a lone striker and five in midfield at Burnley, but would presumably respond by saying he started the game with four in midfield and had Taylor Fletcher playing alongside Burgess in attack.

He was forced to reorganise due to the poor start the team made. Daniel Nardiello is currently only fit enough to play for twenty minutes or so, apparently.

The Seasiders somehow managed to get to half time on level terms on Tuesday, but eventually went down 2-0 to their local rivals with barely a whimper, due to a 20 yard strike from Martin Paterson and a Graham Alexander penalty. Blackpool could argue about the legitimacy of the penalty, but not about the final result.

Pool had gone into the game on a high, having won their previous two games, both 1-0, following up the win at Southampton with three points at home to Barnsley after a screamer of a goal from Kabba in the 86th minute, the loan striker firing home an unstoppable shot from 25 yards.

It’s important to recover the forward momentum as soon as possible and what Grayson needs most, right now, is a fit set of strikers to choose from.