Birmingham City have been dealt a major boost ahead of their visit to Stoke City this weekend after Chris Davies confirmed that striker Jay Stansfield could return.
The 22-year-old enjoyed an excellent start to the season, silencing his doubters by scoring in the first three games of the season. He first netted in the opening day draw with Ipswich Town before following that with strikes against Sheffield United in the Carabao Cup and Blackburn Rovers.
He suffered an injury in the Carabao Cup second round defeat against Port Vale, which ruled him out of the visit to fellow promotion contenders Leicester City. This coincided with their first league loss of the campaign, with the Foxes running out 2-0 victors.
Davies Issues Positive Update
Birmingham travel to high-flying Stoke on Saturday hoping to return to winning ways following the international break. Speaking to the media ahead of the trip, manager Davies confirmed that Stansfield could return to the squad:
“Jay has been in rehab since that knock and he’s done all of the stuff that he’s needed to do, so he’s getting there step by step. He’s close. We will see how he goes in the next few days.”
There was also fears that summer signing Demarai Gray could miss out after he appeared to have injured his shoulder against Leicester. Although it was clear throughout the game that there was an issue, the winger completed the full 90 minutes. Issuing an update, Davies added:
“Dimmy is fine. He had that (knock) on his shoulder and it looked a really sore one, but he got his treatment and that’s done. He’s recovered fine in the last week or so, so he’s absolutely fine.”
Writer’s View
This is excellent news for Birmingham ahead of a tricky trip to Staffordshire. Stoke have been flying under Mark Robins and look as if they can push on for at least a top half finish for the first time since they were relegated from the Premier League in 2017. A fully fit Demarai Gray is a huge plus and he must now be expected to start the game. As for Stansfield, whilst positive, it still appears as if he is touch and go. It’s likely that he will make the clash but expect him to be named amongst the substitutes.
