Birmingham City Are Now On The Chart After Their Recent Win

Birmingham City celebrated an away victory on Saturday after coming from behind to defeat Wycombe Wanderers 3-2 at Adams Park.

Blues recovered from Krystian Bielik’s early own goal to race into a 3-1 lead through Alfie May, Luke Harris and Willum Willumsson before Sam Vokes scored Wycombe’s second in the 90th minute to set up an anxious finale.

Chris Davies’ team held on to secure their second away victory in the space of five days after Charlton were dumped out of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday. Having won just once on the road in the first half of 2024, Davies has trebled that tally inside a week of the new season. Here are our talking points post-Wycombe…

Strength of subs shows again

Davies wastes little time when it comes to introducing substitutes and made three before the 65th minute against Wycombe. Koji Miyoshi was the first man summoned from the bench and while the diminutive Japanese winger added poise, his compatriot Ayumu Yokoyama provided the punch and inspiration Blues required.

Yokoyama found himself in a one-v-one situation with his full-back three minutes after coming on and absolutely bamboozled him. The 21-year-old shimmied left, then right, before propelling himself down the outside and pulling the ball back for Harris to convert from close range.

Willumsson, who was brought on in tandem with Yokoyama, produced a clinical finish for Blues’ third after Miyoshi’s shot had been saved by Wycombe goalkeeper Nathan Bishop.

“The way we play wears the opposition down essentially and we need to make sure that we’ve got real punch in that last 20 minutes, because it’s going to be critical for us,” said Davies. “Any team that likes to dominate the ball has to really understand that period is crucial and you can really push forward.

“So subs need to come on and raise your level and I thought for Yoko to come on and have his moment one-v-one and be decisive, which is what he needs to be. He was decisive.

“And then Willum, who contributed really well to arrive and finish with a quality finish down in front of the away fans. I thought it was an excellent contribution from those guys.”

Luke Harris proves his worth

Harris went under the radar at Charlton on his Blues debut and he didn’t grab your attention in the first half at Adams Park but Davies’ decision to keep him on the field paid dividends. The 19-year-old drifted into intelligent positions to combine with his teammates and has a very desirable knack, as Davies pointed out afterwards.

“If you look back at his youth career he’s been one that arrives in the box and scores goals,” Davies commented. “So my plan for him is to get him as close to the box as possible because I know he’s got a knack and that’s hard to teach someone of getting in there.”

That is why Davies deployed Harris as the attacking midfield player ahead of Tyler Roberts – who watched on from the sidelines at Adams Park – and Miyoshi with Willumsson not fit to start.

Where does this leave Dembele?

At least Roberts made it to Wycombe. Having been hooked at half-time against Reading last weekend and benched at Charlton, Siriki Dembele was left at home.

Davies insisted it was purely a selection decision afterwards but it is hard to envisage Dembele sticking around at Blues to play a bit-part. There has been interest in Dembele right throughout the summer and the recent addition of Yokoyama means Blues no longer need him for squad depth.