Blues are facing up to increasing injury issues as they prepare for Friday’s trip to Wrexham in the Championship.
Ethan Laird, one of the standout performers so far this season, has been ruled out ‘for a few months’ due to the hamstring injury suffered at Coventry City.
And casualties from the dramatic 2-2 draw against Sheffield Wednesday in midweek were Jay Stansfield (ankle) and Bright Osayi-Samuel (foot), both of whom were forced off.
About Laird, manager Chris Davies confirmed: “Ethan is unfortunately an injury that will take him some time, a few months, which is a real blow. A real blow to him and us.
“He’s had it assessed and looked at, and unfortunately it was as bad as we feared it would be. We won’t see him for a few months.”
Turning to the other pair, Davies commented: “Jay obviously felt his ankle and couldn’t continue. I don’t know the extent of what he will be out for and it’s similar with Bright, he had a knock and tried to run it off.”
Blues lost Marvin Ducksch in the warm up at Coventry, due to an unspecified leg injury, and he subsequently missed the visit of the Owls.
Davies said: “Marvin is a few weeks, so there’s nothing long-term with that.”
Blues had hoped Keshi Anderson would be available this week, but it is unclear if he is now able to return.
And they remain without Willum Willumsson, plus long-term absentees Scott Wright and Lee Buchanan.
Demarai Gray’s equaliser, in the ninth minute of added-time, kept Blues proud unbeaten home run intact on Tuesday.
Davies said he felt ‘mixed emotions’ about the result against Sheffield Wednesday, which made it 29 league games without loss at St. Andrew’s.
“There’s an element of relief and happiness with the way we got the equaliser but underlying that, a frustration that we let the game get away from us somehow and turn into that because I thought we should have been winning that game.
“It was a game I felt we were very comfortable in, in the sense that we were 1-0 up, early. Dominating the game. All the territory, all the possession and one big error led to them finding their way somehow back into the game, which really knocked us and everyone inside the stadium.
“It was a blow. We had to regroup at half-time. We came out well, we continued to attack. We had a couple of big moments, then they go up the other end, free-kick and goal. Unfortunately this is football, this can happen.
“Poor errors from our point of view and I was very, very frustrated how we were 2-1 down in that game. It was beyond me.
“But it can happen and the one thing we did show was the spirit because you don’t finish a game like that unless you have got it.”
Blues threw everything at Sheffield Wednesday in the final 10 minutes and added-time.
By the end, their back four was (from left) Alex Cochrane, Marc Leonard, Tomoki Iwata and Gray.
Christoph Klarer had gone up front to provide an aerial presence with Lyndon Dykes and Ryan Allsop ventured into the thick of thing at every set-piece.
Five of Blues seven league goals this season have come in the 90th minute or added-time.
Davies said: “No one is more frustrated than me that it turned into that sort of game. It should have been a game we were out of sight at half-time, then you push on from there.
“That’s no disrespect to Sheffield because they are a solid team. But it should have been.
“We have shown that if it gets late and deep into a game, we’re there. We will stand up and do what we need to do. But there are things for us to learn, things for us to improve, definitely.
“But that could be one of the biggest points of our season and one of the biggest goals of our season.”
Davies added: “It felt like it was coming. Ultimately it came down to a good quality finish. That’s what it is. We get into some good situations and they (the players) have got the quality – and Demarai showed his quality there.
“So there’s a mixed feeling amongst the dressing room. They’re happy that we fought back and didn’t lose this match. But there’s a frustration there because we know we let this game, somehow, get away from us a little bit, which we shouldn’t have done.”
When Davies made a triple substitution straddling the 58th and 59th minutes, a large portion of the St. Andrew’s crowd showed displeasure that Tommy Doyle and Patrick Roberts were being withdrawn by booing.
Said Davies: “It is the first time (that’s happened to me). As a manager, you have to take it. The fans have got their views, which is absolutely fine.
“From my point of view there is absolutely no way Tommy Doyle and Patrick Roberts were going to last more than 60 minutes.
“They just haven’t played the football. So it wasn’t even a decision really. It was a must because you saw the fitness the players had late in the game and they wouldn’t have been able to do that. It was a pre-planned substitution, not based on their performance – I thought they both did quite well.
“We have got a big injury list at the moment and if we keep them on for too long and they go down, we’ll be playing the Under-18s. It’s been a bruising week in that sense, but there’s no time to dwell on that because we’ve got a big 48 hours coming up.”
