Birmingham City injury fear confirmed and striker latest as Chris Davies outlines transfer contingency plan
The latest Birmingham City team news as Chris Davies unveils an injury worry and a transfer priority.
Chris Davies has confirmed that left-back Alex Cochrane sustained a rare injury during Birmingham City’s dramatic 2-1 win at Blackburn Rovers.
Blues completed a remarkable comeback at Ewood Park on Saturday in what was Davies’ first-ever Championship win, but it didn’t come without sacrifice as Cochrane was replaced by Ethan Laird at half time. It was nothing serious, Davies has since confirmed, but Cochrane playing on wasn’t worth the risk.
Laird went on to have a major impact on the game as the former Manchester United man won the penalty that Jay Stansfield converted for 1-1. The full-back, utilised in an auxiliary left-sided role, also defended brilliantly throughout the second period before Blues went on to win the game through a 98th-minute Lyndon Dykes strike.
As much as Laird played well, Birmingham won’t want to be without Cochrane for long. “He's got a slight knock,” Davies told Birmingham Live. “He's just felt something there which is unusual because Alex has been an ever present. But he's played a lot of football, so we'll have to see how he is tomorrow.”
Birmingham City transfer plan revealed
Cochrane’s injury has highlighted Blues’ need for improved depth at left-back, but Birmingham World understands the plan has always been to reinforce that area of the squad. Davies has now confirmed that’s something the club are looking to address sooner rather than later, with the transfer deadline coming up in less than a fortnight.
“We are looking in that position. We do need two left-backs so definitely cover and competition for Alex,” Davies added. “That won't change it too much just by nature we've only got two weeks to go, so it's something we've been looking at doing.
“Nothing's imminent in the next day or so from my understanding, but there's definite work to do, no doubt we need the depth. We need a few more players just to give us what we need depth-wise and quality-wise for the season ahead.
“It's a long old road we've got ahead of us and we're working hard on that, we communicate a lot, myself and the owner and Craig (Gardner), and we're always talking about what exactly we need and working hard behind the scenes. It just depends how it all falls, but there's not like loads that we need to bring in, but we need a few more just to finish off the squad.”
Marvin Ducksch injury latest
One position Birmingham no longer need to sign anybody for is striker. Marvin Ducksch’s arrival from Werder Bremen means Davies now has his desired total of four centre-forwards at his disposal; a split down the middle of speedy runners in behind and physical target men.
Ducksch, who falls into the latter category, has been incredibly prolific throughout the years. Particularly lethal for his most recent club before Birmingham, Ducksch scored 54 goals and provided 40 assists in 134 matches for Bremen. Last campaign, Ducksch scored eight goals and notched nine assists in 32 Bundesliga outings.
Bluenoses will have to wait a little longer to see Ducksch in action, however, as the German arrived through the doors with a rare injury. The 32-year-old has missed just three league fixtures in the past three games, so it’s an unusual blight to his ordinarily impeccable availability.
“Ducksch has come in and is a little bit behind physically because he’s come in with a little niggle, ironically,” Davies said after the 1-1 draw with Ipswich Town. “It looks like he will be team training within the next couple of weeks but he’s going to take a little bit of time.
“He’s missed a good few weeks of pre-season with a niggle. He’s not one that does normally get injured much, but what we don’t want to do is rush him and suddenly he’s out for a longer period. We’ve got to get him right, get him fit, get him strong and then ready to go.”
Stansfield and Kyogo to compete with Ducksch
When Ducksch eventually gets going, the German should be able to contribute plenty. It’ll be difficult to take over from Stansfield and Kyogo Furuhashi in the starting XI but Ducksch, with his height and physicality, offers a different approach if Davies needs it.
“He’s a player that is obviously a physical size, 6ft 2in, a nine that can hold the ball, link, turn, slide people in, technically good and a good finisher as well when he gets chances in and around the box,” Davies said of Ducksch’s profile.
“We had four strikers last year with Jukey (Lukas Jutkiewicz) and Lyndon being physical presences and Alfie (May) and Jay, and I was keen to make sure we’ve got a few weapons to use. With Ducksch, he just gives us something a bit different to the others and it’s good to have that.”