Birmingham City

Birmingham City aim to keep their unbeaten run going when they host Oxford United on Saturday (15:00 BST), as striker Jay Stansfield looks to score for the third consecutive game.

The U's are chasing their first win of the season having been narrowly beaten 1-0 by Portsmouth and 3-2 by Hull City in their opening Championship fixtures.

• This will be the first time that Birmingham City and Oxford United have met in the league since December 1998, which was a 7-1 victory for the Blues.

• Oxford United won their last away league game against Birmingham City 1-0 in November 1998, a result which ended a prior 10-match winless streak at St Andrew's between September 1970 and October 1997 (D6 L4).

• Birmingham are unbeaten across their last 26 home league games since a 1-0 defeat to Cardiff City in April 2024 (W21 D5), scoring 52 goals in that time and conceding only 12.

• Oxford United could lose their opening three matches of a league season for the first time since 2018-19.

• Oxford United have failed to win any of their last seven league games against newly promoted opposition (D5 L2), since a 3-1 away victory over Carlisle United in League One in January 2024.

Image source, Rex Features

Birmingham City boss Chris Davies has again underlined the value to the side of "catalyst" forward Jay Stansfield.

Blues' star striker was instrumental in their dramatic 2-1 comeback win over Blackburn Rovers, sealing victory with an injury-time penalty - the visitors' second goal in a remarkable turnaround in added time.

"Jay does play with emotion and doesn't like to lose. He likes to make an impact in the game," Davies told BBC Radio WM.

"It's all very well not wanting to lose, and being emotional, but it's case of 'what are you doing with the ball?'

"The way he took his penalty was exquisite. The keeper went the right way with a good dive but he put it right in the side netting.

"Jay was a real catalyst with his intensity and energy to get us going."

Stansfield's successful spot-kick maintained his record of scoring in all of Birmingham's games so far - in both Championship matches and their Carabao Cup tie.

The former Fulham forward has now notched 26 goals in 47 games since making his loan move from the Cottagers permanent ahead of last season.

In the 2024-25 season he scored 23 times, with 19 goals in League One, in Blues' record-breaking title win.

Nine of those league goals were penalties, leading to some away fans dubbing the 22-year-old 'Pensfield'.

"He is an exceptional penalty taker, no doubt about that," Davies said.

"I've seen a lot of them, and the one last week [against Blackburn] with the context, the time he had to wait, with the speed he put on it and where he put it, I thought it was one of the best I've seen - whipping it in that corner.

"Long may it continue."

Davies also gave a small update on injury news concerning full-back Alex Cochrane ahead of Saturday's visit of Oxford United.

Left-back Cochrane came off at half-time against Blackburn with what looked like a groin problem, but Davies said it was "nothing major" and the 25-year-old was "not far away" from being in the frame for the weekend.

Sheffield Wednesday are close to signing former Norwich winger Onel Hernandez, with Birmingham and Wrexham having also shown interest in the 32-year-old Cuba international after his release by the Canaries. (SportsBoom, external)

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Wednesday's gossip column here.

Boston United have signed Birmingham City centre-back Tommy Fogarty on loan until January.

The 21-year-old has previously been on loan at Ebbsfleet United and Scottish Championship side Dunfermline Athletic.

Birmingham City are not pursuing a move for Al-Hilal striker Alexander Mitrovic despite being linked with the former Fulham forward. (Birmingham Live), external

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Monday's gossip column here.

Birmingham City striker Jay Stansfield believes their dramatic late win at Blackburn Rovers underlines the strength in depth in their squad.

Ethan Laird came off the bench to win the 90th-minute penalty, which Stansfield converted, and it was another substitute, Lyondon Dykes, who added the stoppage-time winner.

"Unbelievable players are sitting on the bench and that just shows the strength of this team and what we can deliver," Stansfield told BBC Radio WM.

"I thought the game was over (after the penalty), I didn't realise there was 11 minutes added on and as soon as we saw the board we knew momentum was with us.

"Our fitness, our energy our togetherness, the gaffer says we're the big blue machine and we saw that in the last few minutes of the game."

He added: "When we're chasing the game that's when big players need to step up and that's what I enjoy doing, it's what I thrive off.

"My heart was racing when I put the ball down on the penalty spot and you look up and see all these people that have travelled and think I don't want to let them down. I know what I'm good at and penalties is one of those things."

Having taken four points from their opening two games, Birmingham will be at home to Oxford United on Saturday.

Image source, Getty Images

Birmingham boss Chris Davies was delighted to see his side recover from a goal down to beat Blackburn at Ewood Park, the Blues' first win since returning to the second tier.

"It is a massive three points," Davies told BBC Radio West Midlands.

"I thought we were the better team throughout the game, we were looking solid and didn't give much away.

"I thought the game would open up in the second half, but to come from a goal down with five minutes to go away from home and win it is something pretty special.

"We are not conceding a lot of territory and chances, we are looking really strong in these games.

"I nearly made the changes earlier, but I thought we had creativity on the pitch, so I let the boys grow back into the game, and I was pleased with how we played the game and the contribution of the guys who came on.

"The desire of our team in the final few minutes was what I loved. We were bursting forward and when the game opened up we ran and ran."

Birmingham are set to battle Derby and QPR for the signing of £5m-rated Japanese midfielder Koki Saito, 24, who spent time on loan at the R's last season from Belgian club Lommel. (Mike McGrath, external)

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Friday's gossip column here.

Blackburn Rovers manager Valerien Ismael has said he would allow club captain Lewis Travis to leave for the right price but insisted he would still play for Rovers as they face promoted side Birmingham City on Saturday (15:00 BST).

Blues will be looking for a first win in their return to the second tier after victory was snatched away from them in the embers of the opening-night 1-1 draw with Ipswich.

• Blackburn Rovers have lost just two of their past 38 home league games against Birmingham City (W25 D11), winning each of their past four in succession, during which they have scored 15 goals in total.

• Birmingham City have won two of their past three league games against Blackburn Rovers (L1), as many victories as across their prior 16 matches against Rovers combined (D6 L8).

• Blackburn have won their opening home game in each of the past five league seasons. However, following their 1-0 opening-day loss at West Bromwich Albion, they will be hoping to avoid beginning a league campaign with back-to-back defeats, which last happened in 2019-20.

• Birmingham have not lost their opening away game in any of the past six seasons (W3 D3) since losing 1-0 at Middlesbrough in the Championship in 2018-19.

• Birmingham's Keshi Anderson won more duels than any other player (14) on the second tier's opening weekend, with the last Blues player to win more in the Championship being Ethan Laird against Swansea in August 2023 (21).

Image source, Rex Features

Birmingham City's 2-1 win over Sheffield United in the Carabao Cup was further evidence the rejuvenated club is proving it is "ready for anything", says defender Ethan Laird.

Wednesday's deserved first-round victory over the Blades came after Blues boss Chris Davies made six changes from the side that were denied a win in their opening Championship match in the final minute by Ipswich Town.

Full-back Laird was one of the players who came in and he told BBC Radio WM it is vital Davies does not see any drop in performance or reliability when he rotates his squad.

"That's the plan. For us to be a trophy-winning squad, we have to be ready for anything," Laird said.

"The gaffer needs to be able to just switch in and switch out, but the reason why we are that good is because we have squad depth.

"We're pushing each other, the competitiveness, and when someone needs to take a break, someone comes in who will do a job."

Birmingham's high press was again on show against Sheffield United and led to their opening goal - and a first for Blues - by Japan forward Kyogo Furuhashi.

Laird said the effort it takes to play the way Davies demands is a lot but the rewards are worth it.

"Every game is going to be a motivational slog - we have to keep doing it game after game because the way we play is hard," he said.

"Pressing to score is a hard thing to do. Not many teams press the way we do, but it's what we do and what we believe in. So we have to keep that motivation.

"That's the way we want to play football and there's a good feeling from all the players when we're on the pitch and we just need to keep showing our fight and quality."

Montpellier's French winger Tanguy Coulibaly has caught the eye of Birmingham City. (Mohamed Toubache-Ter via X), external

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Tuesday's gossip column here.

Image source, Rex Features

Birmingham City head coach Chris Davies says he was delighted with how his team performed on their Championship return.

Only a controversial injury-time penalty from Ipswich Town's George Hirst - which Davies called " really, really harsh" prevented Blues from claiming a deserved victory in their 1-1 draw.

Having clocked up a staggering 111 points on their way to winning League One last season, Davies' side showed for large periods that they can trouble the very best in the second tier this campaign.

"Tonight was about the performance and how to handle the occasion," said Davies. "I thought we were the better team, we dominated the match and deserved to win.

"There was a lot to like. We've retained our identity, not just stylistically, but the spirit and the fight we had last season."

"The amount of new managers coming into the league this year, I have never seen anything like it".

Aaron Paul and Jobi McAnuff are joined by special guests Tommy Smith and Alex Bruce to preview the 2025-26 Championship season.

They discuss a range of topics including assessing chances of sides coming down from the Premier League, who the contenders might be for the top six and take a deep dive of each of the sides promoted from League One.

Listen to the full episode of 72+ and more on BBC Sounds.