Birmingham City have issued an update on star attacker Jay Stansfield after worries over a potential serious injury sustained in midweek.
There had been concerns over the Blues man’s fitness after he was stretchered off following a collision with Bradford City‘s Romoney Crichlow in their Vertu Trophy clash on Tuesday night, which the League One side won to reach the competition’s final.
Despite initial concerns, Birmingham have swiftly moved to clarify Stansfield’s injury status, and it’s better news than many feared, with Stansfield having seemingly avoided major injury.
In an update on their official website, Birmingham said that scans on the 22-year-old showed “no indication of bone or ligament damage to the affected area” and that he will be assessed at the club within the coming days. While this news will be a relief to Birmingham fans, it remains to be seen when Stansfield will return until these tests are complete, but the news of no knee damage will certainly be encouraging.
Former Exeter City loanee Stansfield has been a success at St Andrew’s and has established himself as a fans favourite since his big money move in the summer after a successful loan. He has already scored twenty times in all competitions following his record move, and looks to be matching the extremely high expectations coming with his fee.
Birmingham currently look to be running away with the League One title, having been heavy favourites at the start of the season, with players like Stansfield a key factor in their success. As well as their league exploits, they remain in the picture for silverware in the Vertu Trophy, with a trip to Wembley waiting after this midweek victory.
Should Stansfield face a period on the sidelines, Birmingham have plenty of options to fill his place. The likes of Keshi Anderson and Scott Wright have proven to be good rotation options and may now have their chance, but Blues fans will undoubtedly hope their star man returns soon.
Writer’s View
This is encouraging news for Birmingham but it’s still not clear what the injury is – Stansfield could still face a period out. While this would obviously be frustrating, they have the depth to recover and fill his role well so may not suffer too much. They are lucky they are so far clear in the league that a slight drop off wouldn’t have too much impact, but manager Chris Davies would want to avoid that. While there could still be a spell on the sidelines for Stansfield, it could have been, and looked as if it would be, a lot worse.
