Exclusive: Sky Sports pundit makes Jay Stansfield, Championship goals claim - One Birmingham City issue is raised | OneFootball

Speaking exclusively with FLW, Don Goodman has been discussing Stansfield's Championship goalscoring prospects with Birmingham City next season.

Jay Stansfield may have cost Birmingham City a pretty penny to acquire his services from Fulham in the summer, but his goals have been worth their weight in gold as the Blues seal their return to Championship football.

The 22-year-old was reported to have fetched a League One record-breaking transfer fee that could amount to £20m upon his move to St Andrew's in August.

An England youth international, Stansfield's signature sent a clear message to the rest of League One, and indeed English football as a whole, that the sleeping giant of Birmingham City had truly awoken from their slumber.

Unsurprisingly to many, the third tier has been a blue and white procession this season, and a 2-1 away win over Peterborough United on 8 April confirmed their return to the second tier for next term.

"You have to say" - Don Goodman makes Jay Stansfield, Championship goalscoring prediction

Speaking exclusively with Football League World, we asked Sky Sports pundit and former player, Don Goodman: 'Birmingham City are promoted to the Championship. With this in mind, do you see Jay Stansfield being one of the golden boot contenders next season in the second tier?'

Goodman said: "Birmingham City have got a lot of work to do in the transfer market this summer.

"I think they need probably four or five players that will be capable of going straight into the starting XI to compete in the top half of the Championship next season.

"If they do that, then there's no reason why Jay Stansfield can't be up there amongst the goals. 18 goals this season (league only) is pretty good, but you have to say that nine of those, so half of his goals, have been from the penalty spot.

"So, will Birmingham be getting that many penalties next season? Will they be carving out chances for him? That's the question. Certainly if they do, then he's more than capable of taking them."

Jay Stansfield may find Championship football suits his open play goalscoring opportunities better than League One

Birmingham City have had to get used to opposition sides sitting in low-blocks, and inviting them to break down their compact and organised defensive structures this season.

For a centre-forward, going up against such opposition tactics most weeks and being expected to score bags of open play goals, is a fairly challenging one for any striker, especially given that defenders will no doubt have been handed specific instructions to mark the Blues hitman out of games this term.

Having to consistently go up against defensive formations that are designed around suffocating space through the middle of the pitch in an attempt to prevent Stansfield from getting on the ball and finding room to operate, is important context to consider when looking at the number of his goals this season being penalties.

In the Championship, however, teams will still respect Birmingham City, but they likely won't find sides sitting off and defending as narrow against them as they have this season, and that could play into Stansfield's hands in regard to open play contributions.

The young Englishman may well find more space in between centre-backs and less focus from opposition teams on specifically marking him out of the game, and as such, more opportunities to create and score goals from open play.

Therefore, with perhaps some better service into him from midfield and wide areas next season, which can be addressed in the summer transfer window, then Stansfield could well enjoy even greater success and be better suited to life as a centre-forward in the Championship next term.