‘Electric’ winger gets nod as Chris Davies rotates in EFL Trophy - Birmingham City predicted XI vs Shrewsbury
Birmingham City take on Shrewsbury Town away in the Football League Trophy on Tuesday night.
Birmingham are back in action this midweek as they make the short trip to New Meadow to face Shrewsbury in the EFL Trophy group stage.
Chris Davies’ side, set to be joined by a remarkable 3,159-strong army of Bluenoses, will be eager to get back to winning ways following Saturday’s shock 1-0 defeat away at Charlton Athletic.
Blues had an uncharacteristically off day at The Valley, putting an end to their terrific eight-game unbeaten streak in the English third tier. Not a single shot on target was registered by Birmingham in that match, so a major improvement is required if any points are to be claimed against Shrewsbury.
Bottom of Group I following the 1-1 draw and subsequent penalty shootout defeat against Walsall in September, Blues need a win to give themselves a realistic chance of progressing in this competition.
As a result, Davies is likely to field as strong of a lineup as possible, though there will be significant rotation due to a whole host of players heading out on international duty. There are concerns over Krystian Bielik, too, as the skipper was forced off midway through the loss at Charlton.
With five changes from the last outing, here’s the starting XI we reckon Davies will name against the Shrews.
Birmingham predicted lineup vs Shrewsbury
GK: Ryan Allsop
The boyhood Bluenose should start this one as Bailey Peacock-Farrell is out on international duty.
RB: Taylor Gardner-Hickman
Gardner-Hickman is likely to continue his stint at right-back as Alfons Sampsted received a call-up from Iceland and Ethan Laird still isn’t available.
CB: Christoph Klarer
Klarer is proving to be an excellent signing at the centre of defence. The Austrian is one of the most physical defenders in League One.
CB: Ben Davies
The manager’s namesake played a half against Charlton when Krystian Bielik was forced off. Davies can expect another run-out here.
LB: Alex Cochrane
Cochrane has played a lot of football at the start of this season but there’s been very little choice with Lee Buchanan sidelined for a lengthy period of time.
CM: Tomoki Iwata
Not selected for international duty, Iwata is available and should offer some stability at the base of midfield.
CM: Marc Leonard
Leonard’s been resorted to the bench for several weeks but Paik Seung-ho jetting off for South Korea’s fixtures opens up an opportunity.
CAM: Scott Wright
The former Rangers man has been effective as an option off the bench but could get prolonged minutes here with several other attacking midfielders away.
RW: Ayumu Yokoyama
The 21-year-old has only played a handful of times but that could change in the cup competitions. Yokoyama’s dribbling can be electric when he gets going.
LW: Emil Hansson
Hansson will probably get the nod ahead of Keshi Anderson, simply for rotation reasons. The Swede could do with a goal to properly get going.
ST: Alfie May
Top scorer May is the obvious choice up front as Lyndon Dykes and Jay Stansfield are with Scotland and Engalnd Under-21s respectively.