Birmingham City will be without top scorer Jay Stansfield and captain Krystian Bielik for this weekend’s FA Cup third round tie against Lincoln City, according to head coach Chris Davies.
The Blues will take a break from their League One exploits this weekend, where they currently sit top of the table. Having not tasted defeat since losing to Shrewsbury Town in November, they enter the game as favourites against a team 11 places below them.
That reverse against the Shrews is just one of three defeats the West Midlanders have suffered all season in all competitions. One of those came in the Carabao Cup in August, a game which saw Stansfield score prior to his reported £15 million switch to St Andrew’s.
The attacker has been in electric form, scoring 12 league goals in 17 appearances. He was absent for last weekend’s 3-0 win over Wigan Athletic, as was defender Bielik.
Davies Issues Fitness Update On Key Duo
With an immediate return to the Championship the priority, Davies is expected to heavily rotate his team for the visit of the Imps on Saturday. However, it appears as if his hand has been forced when it comes to two of his regular starters. Speaking to the media, via Birmingham Live, the 39-year-old didn’t completely rule out Stansfield and Bielik, although admitted the outlook isn’t good:
“They’re both day by day still. They are niggles more than anything else, they aren’t long-term injuries, but both would be doubtful for the weekend.”
Davies also issued an update on wingers Keshi Anderson and Emil Hansson, saying:
“Keshi is not a long one but he’s very doubtful for this weekend. Emil is a little bit longer than that.”
It’s not all bad news though, with defender Alfons Sampsted set to return to the squad after a two month absence:
“Alfons is back available and has been training now for a couple of weeks, he just hasn’t been featuring in the squads. He has trained well and hard and he’s ready to go.”
Writer’s View
It remains to be seen as to how much this will hurt Birmingham but the evidence from their last outing indicates it will be very little. Both Stansfield and Bielik have been key stars for Chris Davies this season, although they still managed a convincing 3-0 win over Wigan last weekend. Still, the head coach is likely to rotate in other areas of the pitch, perhaps earning a chance for the likes of Marc Leonard. A Lincoln side low on confidence may go close to full strength though, setting up a potentially interesting encounter.
