"Would be useful" - Birmingham City owners sent transfer demand amid Lee Buchanan absence | OneFootball

FLW's Birmingham City fan pundit believes the club need to sign a new left-back in the January transfer window.

This article is part of Football League World’s 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

It has been an excellent start to life in League One for Birmingham City.

Birmingham are playing in the third tier of English football for the first time in almost 30 years following their relegation from the Championship last season, but they look to be in an incredibly strong position to bounce back at the first attempt.

The ambitious Blues reportedly spent a total of around £24 million during the course of the summer transfer window, including £15 million on Fulham striker Jay Stansfield, and they currently sit top of the League One table after winning nine and drawing two of their first 12 league games.

One of Birmingham's key players this season has been defender Alex Cochrane, who has starred since making the move to St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park from Scottish side Hearts for a reported fee of around £1.3 million plus add-ons this summer.

Cochrane has featured in all 18 of the Blues' games in all competitions this season, starting 16 of those, and the 24-year-old is set to keep his place at left-back over the coming weeks, with manager Chris Davies confirming that Lee Buchanan is not yet ready to make his return from injury.

"Lee is end stage rehab. He's had few setbacks from a few injuries, he's been out for a long while. So I think the thing with Lee is that he needs to build a base of fitness to really allow him to cope with the demands of training and games. We are talking weeks rather than days," Davies told Birmingham Live last week.

Birmingham City fan pundit issues January transfer demand

When asked what demand he would send to the board ahead of the January transfer window, FLW's Birmingham City fan pundit Mike Gibbs said that the club should look to bring in another left-back to provide cover for Cochrane in Buchanan's absence.

"I think the only one for me would probably be a left-back," Mike said.

"Although we've got Lee Buchanan and Alex Cochrane, Buchanan has not been fit all year and Cochrane has had to play essentially every single game, so I think someone who could cover left-back and maybe a couple of other positions would be useful.

"If you look at right-back, we've got Ethan Laird and Alfons Sampstead, and then you've got Taylor Gardner-Hickman who can come in and play there as well.

"I think that's been invaluable, you've seen how much Gardner-Hickman has played at right-back, and especially with things like injuries and international duty, having that additional cover and someone who can be flexible and play a couple of positions would be really useful."

Given that Cochrane has played in all of Birmingham's games in all competitions this season, Mike is right that having cover for the ex-Brighton man would be useful while Buchanan is sidelined.

Buchanan impressed for the Blues last season following his move from Werder Bremen, and he was one of few players to emerge with any credit from their disappointing relegation campaign, so Davies will be keen to have him back soon.

As Buchanan has missed the entire season so far, he will need time to get back up to speed, but his return will mean that Davies has two quality left-backs at his disposal, and there may be little need to strengthen in that area in January.

However, Buchanan has already suffered one setback in his recovery from the calf injury he suffered in pre-season, and any further issues could see Davies decide to enter the transfer market for reinforcements.