Good afternoon everyone and welcome to Eurosport Yahoo!'s LIVE text commentary from Newcastle United's game with Birmingham City at St James' Park.

Newcastle trying to break with pace - for the first time in the game Gutierrez and Jose Enrique combine, but the latter's delivery lets him down.

Gutierrez gathers the cross on the far side and tries to send in a left-footed ball of his own. Not his best work - out for a goal kick.

Barton does well to take the ball off Beausejour and propel his side forward with a long ball which finds its way to the breaking Lovenkrands. The Dane wins his side a corner.

A hint of Birmingham's striking woes this season - They have failed to score more than two goals in each of their last 58 Premier League matches, since a 3-2 away win at Wigan in December 2009. This is the fourth-longest ever run by a Premier League club without scoring more than twice in consecutive matches after Sunderland (114), West Brom (67) and Nottingham Forest (65). (Infostrada)

And having been played in, Jerome opts for glory, and makes an almighty mess of it. Poor shot and poor decision from the striker.

Birmingham going backwards here - until a moment of brilliance from Ferguson to launch Jerome down the right.

Wigan have a hugely important goal at Aston Villa - it lifts them out of the relegation zone for the moment.

Not especially tidy from Birmingham - the Blues fail to deal with a Simpson cross and the ball very nearly loops up into the path of Ameobi.

Coloccini tries the route one option and chips a ball forward to Ameobi - but it's well over the striker's head.

Decent run from the Argentine winger - he's muscled out by two men in blue, but showed he is not afraid to take the defenders on.

Poor ball from Fahey, floated in towards the centre circle and nobody picks it up. Newcastle get the ball and move left quickly to involve Gutierrez.

Looks like a clash between Taylor and Jerome there, and the Birmingham man came off far worse. He got an elbow to the head, and looks very groggy getting back up. Will he be able to run it off?

Corner for Birmingham - the ball comes to Beasejour who flicks in a useful cross from the left - it doesn't quite find its target but Newcastle clear cautiously.

Not a lot to enjoy so far. Newcastle probing but Birmingham look well-organised.

Newcastle on the ball in the early stages, but a ranging ball forward from Barton to Ameobi lurking on the left misses its mark.

Away we go at St James' Park!

Today's referee today is Chris Foy. He's about to get play underway.

With Craig Gardner (7 PL goals) suspended and Nikola Zigic (5 PL goals) injured, the most prolific scorers in the Birmingham side are defender Liam Ridgewell and midfielder Sebastian Larsson who have scored four goals each. (Infostrada)

A couple of landmarks to mention - Steven Taylor set to make his 150th league appearance today, while it's Roger Johnson of Birmingham's 350th league appearance.

Hope for Birmingham - Newcastle have suffered from terrible form in May in the Premier League in recent times. They have taken just four points from their last 21 in May fixtures.

Good omen for the Toon - Alan Pardew has won all three of his previous Premier League matches against Birmingham as a manager (Infostrada)