Jay Stansfield suffers worrying injury during Birmingham City vs Bradford

Birmingham’s star striker Jay Stansfield had to be stretchered off the field after suffering what appeared to be a nasty knee injury during the 2-1 victory over Bradford on Tuesday night.

The £13 million record signing has been taken to hospital to undergo tests on what manager Chris Davies believes is an injury to the bone rather than ligament damage, though nothing is certain at this stage.

It was a worrying incident as Stansfield stayed down for several minutes after being clattered by Bradford’s Romoney Crichlow inside the box. Referee Scott Oldham controversially denied Blues a stonewall penalty and Bradford went down the other end to score an equalising goal, Bobby Pointon poking home from a low Antoni Sarcevic cross.

The worst was still to come, though, as concern grew for Stansfield lying in a heap. The former Fulham man let out a loud cry as soon as he hit the deck, falling awkwardly on his knee under Crichlow’s challenge. While Bradford were celebrating their goal down the other end, Birmingham’s medical staff treated Stansfield.

It quickly became clear that Stansfield hadn’t just stayed down in the hope of the referee changing his mind – he was seriously hurt. Great care was taken to ensure no further damage was done and Stansfield, provided with an oxygen mask, was lifted onto a stretcher before being wheeled into an ambulance.

The striker had scored a brilliant opening goal with the last touch of the first half, chesting down from a Kieran Dowell cross and volleying into the net. He wasn’t able to double his tally on the night, though, denied the opportunity by a highly unfortunate injury.

Chris Davies provides Jay Stansfield injury update

Blues boss Davies was asked about Stansfield’s injury in the post-match press conference. With a concerned look, he said: “It was above his knee. It was a bad fall, he (Crichlow) has landed on him basically. I don’t know the extent of it but he was in a lot of pain and has gone to hospital for checks.

When a follow-up question was asked about whether it was Stansfield’s ligaments, Davies added: “I don’t think it was that, it was the impact of the leg. It’s the severity of the impact they’re concerned about as the guy’s landed on the bone, so we’ll have to see.

“He was in a lot of pain. To get stretchered off like that is obviously a huge concern. Hopefully within the next few hours we’ll get the results that are more definitive.”