Birmingham City manager Chris Davies is unsure whether Jay Stansfield will play when his side hosts league leaders Coventry City at St. Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park on Sunday lunchtime.

The Blues were without their talismanic striker for the New Year’s Day trip to Watford, and a disappointing performance and 3-0 defeat further added to the pressure on Davies.

Davies’ side barely threatened Hornets goalkeeper Egil Selvik throughout the 90-plus minutes in Hertfordshire, with Kyogo Furuhashi initially chosen to spearhead Blues’ attack in front of Willum Willumsson, who played in the ‘number 10’ role that Stansfield has so frequently played for the West Midlands side this season.

Thomas Ince’s 60-minute hat-trick handed Birmingham their sixth defeat in seven away matches, extending their current losing streak to seven games, with their most recent victory being against their most recent opponents in B9 on December 1st.

Prior to the return match against Javi Gracia’s men, it was initially claimed that Davies would need to produce positive results at home against Derby County and Southampton, both of which finished 1-1, while it has now been revealed that Stansfield suffered a dead leg in the controversial draw against Tonda Eckert’s side on Monday night, forcing him to be replaced by Liverpool loanee Lewis Koumas after 69 minutes.

With less than 48 hours until kick-off at St. Andrew’s against the table-topping Sky Blues, who have also suffered a mini-blip of only two wins in seven games, attention has shifted to which players Davies will have available amid a well-documented selection crisis, with some of his key performers currently injured or suspended.

As a result, it would be a tremendous boost if the club’s record signing was available for the forthcoming West Midlands derby, however that is questionable.

Chris Davies provides an iffy Jay Stansfield update ahead of Birmingham City vs Coventry City.

The Blues sit 16 places and 21 points below Frank Lampard’s side in the Championship standings as they prepare for the aforementioned encounter with the Sky Blues, and many will be wondering where any goal threat will come from.

Demarai Gray, the team’s star winger, is out with a calf injury, while Kyogo and Marvin Ducksch have struggled since joining from Stade Rennais and Werder Bremen.

Stansfield, unsurprisingly, has become a major talking point since his permanent return to the Blues, but he has dealt with external pressure, particularly taunts from opposition supporters about the eight-figure sum his employers parted with in August 2024.

After scoring 12 times on loan in the league when Birmingham were relegated in 2023/24, the England Under-21 international has nine goals in all competitions in 21 appearances this season.

Indeed, the defeat to Watford was only the second time Stansfield had no involvement in a league or cup match, having missed the 2-0 defeat to Leicester City on August 30th.

As previously stated, Davies would benefit greatly from quickly welcoming back his best scorer. However, the 40-year-old held his cards close to his chest on that front following the final whistle at Vicarage Road, owing to the short turnaround between the two games.

“We missed his energy,” Davies explained. “He received a knock and was unable to make it to the bench.

“It is a little uncertain. We’ll have to watch how he does in the following 48 hours. We’ll have to watch how he is tomorrow and the following day.”

Birmingham City will look for a significantly improved performance against Coventry City.

Not only will Davies expect for a much better performance from his squad based on events against the in-form Hornets, but it is also an opportunity to make amends for their poor performance against Coventry at the CBS Arena on September 27th.

The 3-0 defeat against the Sky Blues illustrated why the Blues have suffered so badly away from home this season, despite the fact that, except from a stuttering stretch of three 1-1 draws, their record at St. Andrew’s has been quite excellent for just shy of two years.

Coventry have also demonstrated that they are certainly beatable at the moment, with Lampard also dealing with availability concerns due to injury and illness, and while it is by no means either side’s main rivalry, it will undoubtedly be a tense match in the Second City this Saturday.