Chris Davies unveils Birmingham City's plan for international break as several players 'running on empty'

Chris Davies has unveiled Birmingham’s mixed approach for the long-awaited March international break.

Blues had the day off on Sunday following their 1-1 draw away at Northampton Town and there will now be a blend of rest and training until the next League One game, at home to Shrewsbury Town on March 29.

All but six of Birmingham’s players will take part in a recuperation plan over the next week or so with those on international duty missing out. Grant Hanley has been called up by Scotland, Willum Willumsson has joined up with Iceland, Bailey Peacock-Farrell will be in goal for Northern Ireland, Luke Harris is with the Wales under-21 setup, Jay Stansfield has been called up to the Young Lions and Paik Seung-ho will jet off to Asia with South Korea.

Those who remain at home will have the opportunity to rest their legs and spend time with their families but there will be no holidays as training days will be staggered. The days leading up to the clash with Shrewsbury will be more full-on as Davies gets his players back up to speed and sets out his game plan.

“We’ve been on a 10-week run of Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Wednesday and the players have given everything. Ultimately now we need some rest and recuperation,” Davies admitted to the media on Saturday.

“Some of them are really running on empty and we need these couple of weeks. It’s going to be a mixture of days off and training, some need a bit of training and some need more time off than others. Then we’ll start preparing for our next game against Shrewsbury,” he said.

It’ll be a welcome relief for much of the squad to have some time away - albeit only briefly - as the congested fixture schedule can really take its toll. Of course, the pressure isn’t really on Birmingham given their comfortable position at the summit of League One, but games have still been coming thick and fast.

Those out with short-term injuries have a good opportunity to get back up to speed in time for the hosting of Shrewsbury, too. Ethan Laird is stepping up his efforts in the gym to recover from a hamstring problem and Taylor Gardner-Hickman is undergoing rehabilitation on a knock suffered against Lincoln City.

Manic return to action for Blues

Birmingham’s rest throughout the international break will be pivotal ahead of one last mad dash before the end of the season. Blues will play all 10 of their remaining League One games over a period of just five weeks, kicking off with matches against Shrewsbury and Bristol Rovers.

Following the trip to the Memorial Stadium, Davies’ men take on Barnsley, Peterborough United, Blackpool, Crawley Town, Burton Albion, Mansfield Town and Cambridge United to round off the league campaign – hopefully with promotion and the title wrapped up.

The clash away at Peterborough on April 8 is particularly important as Birmingham play the Posh again five days later in the highly-anticipated Vertu Trophy at Wembley Stadium. Blues will want to get a good look at their rivals for silverware while not giving away too much about their own tactical approach.

In other news, Birmingham’s mega £24 million summer transfer window has been predicted.