5 days Ago By [email protected] (Alex Dicken)
Birmingham City’s players have six games to break records – or, for some, prove themselves to Chris Davies. Blues have already wrapped up the League One title and begin their run for home on Good Friday against Crawley. Six games in 15 days to conclude the season means Davies will have to rotate and veer away from his preferred XI.
Crawley can ill-afford to lose at St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park after suffering three straight defeats. One more could see them relegated to League Two. With Blues chasing records and trying to maintain their unbeaten home record, Davies will make a selection to win the game, but this is his chance to take a closer look at some players.
Grant Hanley, Marc Leonard and Luke Harris haven’t played as much as they would have hoped to. Hanley is still waiting for his first league start so you would expect that to arrive in these final six matches. Maybe Hanley - who is out of contract in the summer - could partner Christoph Klarer against Crawley to give Ben Davies a rest.
You would still expect Ethan Laird and Alex Cochrane to play at full-back. Paik Seung-ho was withdrawn early at Wembley with a calf issue, which could open the door to Leonard. Irrespective of whether Paik is fit or not, the Paik-Iwata midfield axis can’t play all of Blues’ remaining games.
That leaves the three behind Jay Stansfield. You would expect Stansfield to get the nod, but Alfie May’s form means he deserves a fair amount of game-time too. With Willum Willumsson out of form, Kieran Dowell, Harris and Keshi Anderson provide a mixture of ingredients in support of Stansfield.
Our Blues XI to face Crawley...
(4-2-3-1): Allsop; Laird, Klarer, Hanley, Cochrane; Iwata, Leonard; Dowell, Harris, Anderson; Stansfield Do you like the look of this team? Let us know HERE 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. Just click this link to receive daily Blues content and breaking news. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners.
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