Stansfield, Osayi-Samuel and Laird: Birmingham City injury latest ahead of Wrexham clash

One of the stand-out fixtures of Birmingham City’s season - from a neutral perspective at least - will take place on Friday night as Chris Davies’ side visit fellow newly-promoted big spenders Wrexham in the Championship.

Birmingham required a 99th minute equaliser by Demarai Gray to rescue a point against relegation-threatened Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday night, as Davies made several changes to his starting line-up but saw the visitors come from behind to almost steal all three points.

The result left Blues 11th in the table with 11 points from eight matches. They are slightly above Wrexham in 15th, who have only picked up nine points so far but are unbeaten in their last four in all competitions. The Red Dragons have netted 13 league goals while letting in 14 at the other end, meaning their matches are never short on entertainment.

The two clubs, both of whom won promotion last campaign amidst significant fanfare and with huge investment to follow, face off in a game dubbed the ‘Hollywood derby’ by BBC Sport.

What are Birmingham’s latest injury updates ahead of Wrexham clash?

Speaking in his press conference on Thursday afternoon, Davies gave fitness updates on the likes of Bright Osayi-Samuel and Ethan Laird ahead of Friday’s fixture. Osayi-Samuel was replaced with an injury against Wednesday, while Laird has been ruled out for ‘several months’ with a hamstring injury sustained at Coventry City.

Davies said: “Bright [Osayi-Samuel] got a bit of a bump, so he’s getting better day by day. We’ll see how he is today. And Keshi [Anderson] is getting closer to involvement, which is positive news.”

When asked if he’d had the chance to speak to Laird, Davies added: “Obviously he’s disappointed, you know, that he’s injured for this length of time. Because he’s an important player for us, loves playing, and we’re going to miss him.

“It’s obviously a blow when a player gets injured for a few weeks, but when it’s a few months, then it’s a lot harder to take. All they want to do is play, so we wish him a speedy recovery. We’re going to support him on that, he’s in good hands, and he will come back stronger.”

Will Jay Stansfield be fit to face Wrexham?

When asked for a fitness update on Jay Stansfield, Davies said: “He’s got strapping on [his ankle]. A lot of them wear strapping on it, ones that have had previous ankle injuries. From my understanding he’s fine.

“He occasionally gets a kick on that one or the other one, but on this particular occasion I think he felt it would be better to come off and the physios checked him over. You can see from the way he scored, he’s still so dangerous and plays with so much energy. The ankle is fine from what I’ve heard.”

This will come as music to the ears of Blues fans, who will have been wary when club record £15 million signing Stansfield picked up a knock in the second half against the Owls and soon saw himself substituted. The 22-year-old will hope to add to his four goals so far this season on the trip to north-east Wales. Other Birmingham absentees include Marvin Ducksch, Willum Willumsson, Lee Buchanan and Scott Wright.