Mr Styles is yet to take charge of a Blues game this season but we did have the pleasure of the Hampshire official refereeing four of our fixtures last season.
The last of these came in the 3-1 win against Middlesbrough at St Andrews on 3rd March when Styles booked Mikael Forssell, Clinton Morrison and Robbie Savage.
Prior to the Boro game, Mr Styles had refereed our home game on 31st January against Newcastle when only Robbie Savage was shown a yellow card, the away game at Everton on 28th December when no Blues players were booked, and the opening game of last season against Spurs at St Andrews when Robbie Savage (again?), David Dunn and Steven Clemence were all cautioned.
He was also the referee that sent off Kenny Cunningham in the pre-season Malaysia Cup game against Newcastle which was added to the Blues defenders sending off against Liverpool and resulted in Cunningham having to serve a two game ban at the beginning of this season.
Mr Styles has taken charge of one Bolton game already this season. He was the man in the middle for their 2-0 defeat against Fulham on 21st August.
In total this season Mr Styles has been in charge of just two Premiership fixtures and handed out just the one yellow card, Chelsea striker Didier Drogba the recipient of that booking.
Mr.J Devine and Mr D G Kellett will be the assistants for the game at The Reebok.
For a detailed analysis of the head-to-head between the two sides, click here
For a detailed analysis of the head-to-head between the two sides, click here