Fulham are swiftly back in action after Saturday’s success against Leicester City with a trip to Midlands tonight to take on Birmingham City in the second round of the League Cup. Marco Silva’s side reached the semi-finals of the competition last season and, although the Fulham head coach telegraphed the fact that there will be wholesale changes at St. Andrew’s this evening, he is still seeking both a professional performance and a strong Cup run.

Blues have responded well to their disastrous relegation from the Championship by making a series of shrewd summer acquisitions and have made a solid start to life in League One. Highly-regarded former Tottenham coach Chris Davies has guided his new side to seven points from a possible nine so far as well as getting past Charlton Athletic in the first round of the League Cup, despite having centre back Dion Sanderson sent off and the Addicks being awarded an early penalty. Luke Harris has made an impressive start to his second season on loan at this level, by scoring one goal and making another in his pair of league starts to date, although the talented Welsh midfielder will have to watch from the stands this evening.

The latest of Birmingham’s thirteen new additions, Ben Davies, who arrived on loan from Rangers on Saturday, is available for selection and the centre half could be pressed into service immediately with Sanderson likely to miss a few weeks of football after picking up a foot injury. Lee Buchanan remains troubled by a calf complaint and Alfie Chang will be sidelined for some time with a serious knee problem. Davies has admitted he is looking forward to measuring his side’s progress against Premier League opposition with a feelgood factor beginning to spread around the blue half of the second city, with the likes of Keshi Anderson, starring up front. Even if the man who opened the scoring at Leyton Orient on Saturday is rested, there could be an opportunity for the underused Tyler Roberts and George Hall to push their claims for a place in the starting line-up.

The visitors are all but certain to field a much-changed side to the one that delivered their first win of the campaign against the Foxes at Craven Cottage over the weekend. Silva has teed up the possibility of handing his two high-profile signings from last week a chance to impress. No Fulham fan will need any introducing to Joachim Andersen and the Danish defender won’t require much in the way of match fitness, having started Crystal Palace’s opening game of the season at Brentford, but giving him a chance to form a partnership with another new arrival in Jorge Cuenca, who the Fulham boss confirmed yesterday would start, could be smart with Saturday’s trip to Ipswich in mind.

Sander Berge could also be offered valuable minutes in the middle of the park having not played a competitive game so far this season, whilst talented teenager Josh King – so impressive in pre-season – will be pushing for a place in midfield. Both Harrison Reed and Tom Cairney could also be options in the engine room depending on the scale of Silva’s planned rotation, whilst Martial Godo – who also caught the eye over the summer after an encouraging loan spell with Wigan Athletic last term – might be in line for an outing on the wing if, as expected, Ryan Sessegnon’s first appearance of his second spell with the Whites comes at left back.

The summer saw plenty of column inches filled by the possibility of Jay Stansfield, who scored thirteen goals for Blues on loan at St. Andrew’s, making a permanent move to join Birmingham but the England under-21 international was always likely to be part of Silva’s plans. He has had to make do with a substitute appearance on the opening night at Old Trafford but could lead the line in surroundings he knows very well. As well as the memories of a personally successful season with City, Stansfield can also reflect on how he scored his first Fulham goal with a superb strike in this competition three years ago.

Silva will need to strike the right balance between ringing the changes and avoiding a banana-skin because a revitalised home side in what have always been intimidating surroundings will be all too eager to take a top flight scalp.

MY FULHAM XI (4-2-3-1): Benda; Castagne, Sessegnon, Andersen, Cuenca; Berge, Reed; Wilson, Godo, Cairney; Stansfield. Subs: Borto, Tete, de Fougerolles, King, Pajaziti, Iwobi, Osmand, Jimenez, Muniz.