Chris Davies confirms two new Birmingham City injury blows before Crawley League One clash

Birmingham City manager Chris Davies has confirmed Krystian Bielik and Paik Seung-ho have sustained injuries ahead of Friday’s League One clash with Crawley Town.

Bielik was absent from Blues’ matchday squad for the 2-0 Vertu Trophy final defeat to Peterborough United at Wembley, whereas Paik was taken off in the 73rd minute of that game after receiving treatment. Davies has confirmed Bielik won’t be able to play for the next fortnight, while Paik will undergo tests to determine the extent of his injury.

“I don’t actually know, it’s something to do with his calf I think,” Davies said of Paik. “I don’t know if it was cramp or more than that, we’ll find out in a little while.”

On Bielik’s absence, Davies added: “Injury, an injury yeah. It was just a knock kind of thing that he picked up from that game. He will be out of action for a couple of weeks from now, I would say.”

Bielik and Paik aren’t the only players currently in the treatment room as winger Emil Hansson missed out on Wembley with a knock and striker Lyndon Dykes isn’t quite ready to return from a calf issue. Then there are Scott Wright and Lee Buchanan, both sidelined with long-term knee injuries and unable to play a part again this season.

Chris Davies fires warning to Birmingham players

Blues would have loved to lift the Vertu Trophy but there can be no complaints about Peterborough drinking in the success. Davies was desperate for the cherry on the cake of a historic season but the failure to win presents an opportunity in itself.

The Championship is going to be a different kettle of fish next season and Blues need to be ready for the trials and tribulations. Davies hopes his squad can take the Wembley failure on the chin and use it as fuel to not feel such disappointment again.

“I’ve said to the players that suffering is part of life, it’s part of football. You have to take your medicine, it’s designed to make you better and you have to grow from the pain you’re in,” Davies told Birmingham World.

“We will grow from it, we can’t just expect to win all the time and everything go our way. Sometimes you get a punch in the face and you need to react to it and grow from it. We got that today.

“I have no doubt the players were there wholeheartedly. They weren’t at their best, I think that’s fair to say. Some of them will be looking on it thinking they could have done a little bit more in certain moments, but they couldn’t have done more in terms of their attitude and the energy and the heart of soul they’ve put into it.

“But the main message from me, which I will reiterate, is what today goes to show is this is what can happen in football – it can not be your day. To win a league with six games to go and lose only three all season and deliver the sort of consistency these players have… for me, today proves what they’ve done in the league this season because you can have games like this. Home or away, it can happen.”