Birmingham City set to be without five players for Stockport clash

Birmingham City are again expected to be without injured trio Emil Hansson, Scott Wright and Alfons Sampsted against Stockport County on Wednesday night. Third-placed Blues face fourth-placed Stockport in another intriguing League One match up at St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park. Blues bounced back from their defeat to Shrewsbury Town with back-to-back wins over Exeter City and Blackpool last week.

Blues’ reward for beating Blackpool in the FA Cup is a third round tie against another League One side, Lincoln City, on home turf but their attention will revert back to the league now for the visit of Stockport. Wingers Hansson and Wright have been sidelined for around six weeks now, while Sampsted has missed the last three games with an ankle injury sustained on international duty. Here is the latest Blues injury news.



.. READ: Tom Wagner sends Birmingham City message as Knighthead jet in for Stockport READ: Birmingham City predicted XI v Stockport as Chris Davies considers three calls Alfons Sampsted Injury: Ankle Sampsted limped off with 15 minutes remaining of Iceland's defeat to Wales in the November international window and has missed Blues' matches with Shrewsbury, Exeter and Blackpool.

What has Davies said? “Unfortunately Sampsted has picked up a bit of a knock on his ankle. It looks like it will be a few weeks, he has rolled his ankle. It’s disappointing but he won’t be out too long.

" Emil Hansson Injury: Muscle Hansson pulled up 10 minutes into the second half of Blues' win at Lincoln on October 19 but he recovered swiftly to start against Bolton three days later. The Swedish winger had to be replaced 20 minutes into Blues' 2-0 win over Bolton and hasn't been seen since. Davies said Hansson will be 'back in training within weeks' at his press conference last week.

Scott Wright Injury: Unspecified Wright suffered an injury in training on the eve of Blues' trip to Lincoln and has now missed six games as a result. The Scottish winger's impact off the bench has been missed. What has Davies said? "They're (Wright and Hansson) not with us yet.

I'd hope to have them back before Christmas. They're not long-term things but they're going to take a bit more time." Lee Buchanan Injury: Calf Left-back Buchanan was dogged by a calf injury in pre-season and it's allowed Alex Cochrane to take his place in the XI.

Buchanan picked up a separate calf issue on his return to training earlier this season but now, four months into the campaign, appears to be on on the verge of a return. What has Davies said? "He's still making his way back day by day and we'll see how he is. It's to build him up, he's just had so many setbacks.

It's not like he's had one long-term injury, he's had one, then another and another. He's just trying to build some kind of continuity now, through training, in his body so it will last. We'll try and get him some game exposure when we can.

" Alfie Chang Injury: Knee The 22-year-old is being given time to rebuild his fitness after more than a year on the sidelines with a cruciate knee ligament injury. Chang has been omitted from Blues' squad meaning he isn't currently eligible for League One fixtures but he could be handed some minutes for the under-21s before January. What has Davies said? “Because he was out for 14 months it was different to a lot of the injuries we talk about, it’s something that takes time.

I think he’s done a good block of training now for a month or so, the next step is bigger spaced areas and maybe some exposure to under-21s football. It’s a longer road for Alfie but he’s done very well so far and worked so hard to come back from his injury.” Get the latest Blues headlines sent straight to your phone BirminghamLive has its very own Birmingham City WhatsApp community to deliver the latest headlines straight to your phone.

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