Sport
Why Jay Stansfield Was Having A Big “Problem” At Birmingham City, And What Lead To The Solution
Jay Stansfield problem solved as Birmingham City make three changes for Wrexham – Predicted XI
A Hollywood contest in League One will take place on Monday evening when Wrexham come to town.
Big spending Birmingham City and top-of-the-table Wrexham will both put their unbeaten records on the line at St Andrew’s in what is undoubtedly League One’s most eye-catching fixture.
Wrexham hit the front in the promotion race last weekend with a 3-0 win over Shrewsbury Town. The Dragons defeated Salford City in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy on Tuesday, too.
In contrast, Blues will have had almost two weeks without a fixture by the time kick-off arrives due to international call-ups. Goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell, Alfons Sampsted, Willum Willumsson and Lyndon Dykes will return well in advance of Wrexham.
Blues boss Chris Davies has a number of selection conundrums, not least where to play record signing Jay Stansfield. The experiment of playing top scorer Alfie May off Stansfield against Walsall didn’t go as planned.
Davies said afterwards that he wants to put Stansfield in positions to hurt teams with his movement in behind, which begs the question as to whether May will continue leading the line. The alternative would be to have Stansfield occupying the right wing position out of possession with the freedom to play centrally when Blues have the ball – which, in league games, has been 68.4 percent of the time on average.
That would suit the style of May, who likes to drop into pockets of space and link the game, and the system. Key to Davies’ set-up has been the width and attacking intent provided by the right-back.
Alfons Sampsted is set to take over in that slot from Ethan Laird who faces a spell out with an ankle issue. The positions of Christoph Klarer, Krystian Bielik and Alex Cochrane are undisputed
Marc Leonard should partner Paik Seung-ho, despite the addition of Tomoki Iwata providing the young Scot with another high calibre competitor. If Stansfield does play on the right, with Willumsson in the centre, someone who can hold the width on the left wing is required to give balance in possession. Emil Hansson has been slightly underwhelming so far but the Swede knows his position inside out.
All in all, our XI includes three changes from Blues’ win over Wigan Athletic last time out. Injured duo Laird and Luke Harris make way, as does Taylor Gardner-Hickman.
Our Blues XI to face Wrexham (4-2-3-1): Peacock-Farrell; Sampsted, Klarer, Bielik, Cochrane; Leonard, Paik; Stansfield, Willumsson, Hansson; May
