Frustrating Birmingham City, Krystian Bielik update emerges | OneFootball

Chris Davies has provided an update on the Blues skipper

Birmingham City manager Chris Davies has provided an update on the extent of Krystian Bielik's injury.

Speaking to Birmingham Live after Blues comfortably saw off Shrewsbury Town in the second of their three EFL Trophy group stage encounters, Davies referenced the "nasty" issue which the versatile club captain had sustained in the club's only competitive defeat of the season thus far, which came in last weekend's trip to Charlton Athletic.

Bielik was absent from the 4-0 rout at the Croud Meadow on Tuesday night after initially being substituted at half-time in the 1-0 defeat in South East London, prior to Matty Godden's winning goal.

Despite the fact that Birmingham won't feature in League One this forthcoming weekend after their initial encounter with Cambridge United at St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park was postponed due to international call-ups, Davies' update on the wellbeing of such a key figure could give cause for concern.

Chris Davies' issues concerning update on Krystian Bielik injury

After the aforementioned encounter at the Valley, Davies stated that Bielik had suffered an ankle issue, which saw him replaced by Rangers loanee Ben Davies midway through the contest.

“I’m not sure where he’ll go with that, it didn’t look great at half-time.”

The Blues boss then proceeded to make five changes to his side for the midweek victory over Paul Hurst's side, which included Davies and Dion Sanderson starting as the centre-back pairing, with Bielik absent from the matchday squad altogether.

After a dominant performance which saw Scott Wright find the net twice, as well as strikes from Tomoki Iwata and Emil Hansson, the former Tottenham Hotspur assistant revealed the extent of Bielik's injury in his post-match assessment with Birmingham Live.

“He got a bit of a nasty ankle knock at the weekend so he looks like he will be a few weeks at the very least.”

As well as giving the latest on Bielik, Davies also provided an update on Iwata's fitness after his half-time substitution for Brandon Khela, as well as Bailey Peacock-Farrell, who suffered a shoulder blow in the 3-2 win over Peterborough United last month.

“Tomoki got a knock on the ankle that he felt he couldn’t run off in the end," the 39-year-old continued. “I’m not sure on the extent of it, I don’t think it looks too bad on first look, but we will see tomorrow.”

Referring to Peacock-Farrell, Davies revealed: “He’s had this knock since the Peterborough game. He came out and got clattered in that game. They’ve looked at it and he needs more treatment so we will assess him in the next few days.”

Birmingham City have the depth to deal with Krystian Bielik absence

Whilst it's not ideal for Davies and the Blues squad that their skipper could be sidelined for numerous weeks, they more-than have adequate strength in-depth to be able to cope with such circumstances.

As previously mentioned, Davies slotted in for Bielik in the second half of Saturday's league encounter, before partnering Sanderson in midweek, who had only just returned from a foot injury which had kept him sidelined since the opening day draw against Reading in B9.

Furthermore, Austrian defender Christoph Klarer has proven to be an extremely astute addition to the ranks so far, putting in a number of strong performances alongside Bielik at the heart of Blues' defence, and the hope will be that his form continues in such a manner despite having to adjust to another defensive partner.

Birmingham return to action on 19th October, when they travel to the LNER Stadium to face a Lincoln City side currently in the middle of a six-game unbeaten run in League One.