Birmingham must stay 'relentless' - Buchanan

Lee Buchanan (right) and Jay Stansfield (left) were the Birmingham City goalscorers in the 2-0 win over Bristol Rovers

Fit-again Birmingham City defender Lee Buchanan says the League One title contenders need to carry on being "relentless" in their pursuit of promotion.

Left-back Buchanan scored his first goal for Blues in the 2-0 home win over Bristol Rovers on Saturday in his first league appearances since the final day of last season, when the club were relegated from the Championship.

Victory over the Gas kept Birmingham one point behind leaders Wycombe Wanderers, with a game in hand.

Chris Davies' side then have two matches in hand over Wrexham, one point and one place behind, in third.

The win over Rovers was Blues' sixth in a row in all competitions and keeps the momentum high as they prepare for four games in nine days over the festive period.

"You've got to be relentless - stick to the plan, stick to how we play," Buchanan told BBC Radio WM.

"All the lads will get game time over the Christmas period with how many games we've got. Everybody's ready and whoever plays is ready to do their job."

Back-to-back calf injuries 'really difficult'

Buchanan, who signed for Blues from German Bundesliga side Werder Bremen ahead of the 2022-23 season, has had to be patient after missing most of the first four months of the season because of successive calf problems.

But his comeback in the club's EFL Trophy win at Exeter a week ago signalled his recovery with his first goal since scoring for Bremen against Borussia Dortmund in August 2022.

"It's been a long three or four months," the 23-year-old said. "I've played the last two games so it's really good to be back out there.

"It's been really difficult. I came back from the first one [calf injury], trained for a few weeks and then had another injury in the same calf.

"It can be tough mentally but you do it for days like that [scoring against Rovers].

"It's always at the back of your mind when you've been out for so long but once we got through that game [Exeter] it went out of the window and it feels normal now."

With the hectic December schedule in full swing, Buchanan says regaining the lead in League One is "the target" at the start of 2025 as they prepare for their next game - at Crawley Town - on 23 December.

"It's always nice to do this for the fans and hopefully, come the end of the season, we'll be in and around it," he said.

"The fans deserve it after the season we had last season. We've just got to focus on our performance, how we play and we'll get the results we want."