Davies must now sell Birmingham dud who Eustace thought was “fantastic”

Birmingham Metropolis will head into their Boxing Day conflict with Burton Albion sitting fairly on the high of the League One desk, as Blues followers already start to dream a couple of title triumph.

It has been a flawless December for these with allegiances to the table-toppers, with six wins picked up from six in all competitions, which included a hard-fought victory towards Crawley City being picked up final day trip.

No one watching the sport would have been shocked to see Jay Stansfield pop up with one other strike, however the scoreline would solely learn 1-0 come full-time surprisingly, because the Blues’ defence needed to stand agency all through to keep away from an undesirable slip-up.

Standout Birmingham defenders this season

Birmingham will know they can’t underestimate any crew within the tough division, even with Crawley loitering close to the foot of the League One desk.

In the long run, the slender three factors had been secured, however the likes of Krystian Bielik and Christoph Klarer needed to stay alert throughout the 90 minutes to make sure no targets got up, with the pair successful a surprising 21 duels mixed.

With Ben Davies additionally having to finish seven clearances, it definitely wasn’t a classic Birmingham efficiency all throughout the pitch, however the defence not less than did their job on the Broadfield Stadium.

Solely leaking 16 targets from their 19 league clashes up to now, Chris Davies will hope his again 4 continues to valiantly battle, particularly as extra tense video games loom on the horizon in 2025.

Sadly, while the Blues defence remaining staunch will please Davies, this might sign the departure of a forgotten determine at St. Andrew’s this January, who has barely featured this season regardless of as soon as being an integral a part of the primary crew.

Dion Sanderson’s future at Birmingham

Studies have now surfaced that Dion Sanderson may very well be off to Coventry Metropolis this coming switch window, with the reserve defender discovering game-time laborious to come back by just lately.

But, these hyperlinks with a transfer as much as the Championship showcase how gifted a centre-back Sanderson could be on his day, with the Blues quantity 5 donning the membership’s armband final season within the second tier.

He would shine for Birmingham on an preliminary mortgage deal in the course of the 2022/23 season, earlier than leaving Wolverhampton Wanderers behind completely for St. Andrew’s the next marketing campaign, having been branded as a “implausible” pick-up to make by then Blues boss John Eustace.

Eustace would have felt vindicated by his phrases – at the same time as he was finally dismissed – with Sanderson occurring to amass ten clear sheets for the membership within the league final season, all while Birmingham disastrously slipped all the way down to the third tier.

The towering 6 foot 2 defender should have been hoping {that a} dire change in division would see him change into an much more essential a part of the jigsaw, however loads of new recruits on the again after Davies’ arrival onto the scene have seen him slide down the pecking order.

Not helped by accidents or suspensions, the ex-Wolves man has solely began one paltry sport in League One to this point, which got here all the way in which again on the opening day of the season versus Studying as Davies went about nonetheless developing his new-look crew.

Trying on the desk above, it is also clear that Davies prefers utilizing each Bielik and Klarer over Sanderson owing to their standout traits, with much more touches and correct passes averaged this season by the pair than the reserve defender managed final marketing campaign, alongside additionally successful a heftier quantity of duels.

Birmingham followers can be unhappy to see Sanderson depart, however with the defence the Blues can now boast, it feels inevitable that the 25-year-old should go away to achieve extra minutes elsewhere.