Birmingham City v Reading early team news as five out and three doubts for League One clash

Birmingham City will host Reading in front of a sold out home crowd at St Andrew’s in their opening League One match.

Blues are playing in the third tier for the first time since the 1994/95 season. Birmingham have been one of the most proactive terms in the transfer market and have spent £10m. More than 18,000 season tickets and been sold, and the Royals were given a full allocation of 2,227, and so the match has all the making of an exciting afternoon of football.

A new season should represent a new start, and everyone wants to play but that can’t be the case. Some players have been nursing injuries during pre-season and will be unavailable. Here’s the latest injury news from both Birmingham City and Reading.

Birmingham City team news

Club captain Krystian Bielik was forced off with a shoulder injury against West Brom but is expected to play a part. He left the field on Saturday, but thankfully his injury isn’t as bad as feared. In a post shared on Instagram, he said: “[A] couple days and I will be sound. Nothing serious.”

Chris Davies will be unable to call upon Lee Buchanan though as he faces up to two months out. He injured his calf against Aldershot Town and isn’t expected to return to training until mid-September. 

“Lee had a calf injury,” Davies said on Saturday.

“I think the prognosis was around about six weeks before he could return to training. It’s going to be a couple of months before we see him back at least.

“It’s disappointing because we had been OK in pre-season for injuries. That was a blow because he’s an important player for us.”

Juninho Bacuna is not a part of the first-team squad and is expected to move on this window. He’s been linked with a move to Sivasspor but was picture training with Saudi Pro League side Al Wehda. 

Academy graduate Alfie Chang is still working on recovering from a serious knee injury that has had him sidelined for a year. He sustained an anterior cruciate ligament injury in August 2023, but has yet to train. 

Out: Alfie Chang, Lee Buchanan and Juninho Bacuna.

Reading team news

Jeriel Dorsett and Kelvin Abrefa are both in a 'race against time' to be fit for Saturday. Both have returned to training on Monday (August 5) with the pair hoping to make a breakthrough in to the frist-team. 

Neither of them were able to play during pre-season and with Reading unable to sign any players as takeover talks continue, it means the Royals will be hoping they can get fit so they can have options to choose from. 

The biggest miss for Reading is Andy Yiadom, who is on the sidelines for the next few weeks. Multiple procedures to correct a knee injury have been unsuccessful and now he faces a longer spell out on the sidelines. 

Youngster John Ryan suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury and he will be out for an indefinite period. In other news, goalkeeper David Button hasn’t featured for Reading over the last fortnight and is another doubt. 

"David has been training normally and he played against Woking," said manager Ruben Selles to the Reading Chronicle on Saturday. 

"He has been in rotation with the other goalies, and we had to narrow down the squad for today. 

“He got an unfortunate kick on the knee a couple of days ago and we need to see if it’s just for some days or a little bit longer."

Out: Andy Yiadom and John Ryan. Doubt: David Button, Jeriel Dorsett and Kelvin Abrefa.