Birmingham City set to be without six players for Barnsley clash

Birmingham City will again be without injured trio Emil Hansson, Scott Wright and Alfons Sampsted against Barnsley – but Hansson is edging closer to a comeback.

Third-placed Blues face eighth-placed Barnsley in another intriguing League One match up after seeing off Stockport on Wednesday. Barnsley were defeated 1-0 by Wrexham in midweek.

Chris Davies was left counting the cost of a yellow card for Keshi Anderson against Stockport which rules him out of the trip to Barnsley. Anderson, who assisted both of Alfie May’s goals in Blues’ 2-0 win over the Hatters, picked up his fifth yellow card of the League One season for a foul in the 61st minute.

Wingers Hansson and Wright have been sidelined for around six weeks now, while Sampsted has missed the last four games with an ankle injury sustained on international duty. Wright and Sampsted are behind Hansson who returned to training on Thursday.

Emil Hansson

Injury: Muscle

Hansson pulled up 10 minutes into the second half of Blues’ win at Lincoln on October 19 but he recovered swiftly to start against Bolton three days later. The Swedish winger had to be replaced 20 minutes into Blues’ 2-0 win over Bolton and hasn’t been seen since. However, Hansson has now returned to training.

What has Davies said? (December 5) “Emil Hansson is a little bit ahead of the other two, he’s back in training today. It’s light training but he’s back in with the squad. He’s getting there, step by step, and it’s been a big step up for him today.”

Scott Wright

Injury: Unspecified

Wright suffered an injury in training on the eve of Blues’ trip to Lincoln and has now missed six games as a result. The Scottish winger’s impact off the bench has been missed.

What has Davies said? “Scott and Alfons are a week or two behind that. They are getting there. Touch wood, as we approach Christmas, we can have them back for that period.”

Alfons Sampsted

Injury: Ankle

Sampsted limped off with 15 minutes remaining of Iceland’s defeat to Wales in the November international window and has missed Blues’ matches with Shrewsbury, Exeter and Blackpool.

Lee Buchanan

Injury: Calf

Left-back Buchanan was dogged by a calf injury in pre-season and it’s allowed Alex Cochrane to take his place in the XI. Buchanan picked up a separate calf issue on his return to training earlier this season but now, four months into the campaign, appears to be on on the verge of a return. Davies wants Buchanan to build up his fitness before he makes his first team return.

What has Davies said? “He’s still making his way back day by day and we’ll see how he is. It’s to build him up, he’s just had so many setbacks. “It’s not like he’s had one long-term injury, he’s had one, then another and another. He’s just trying to build some kind of continuity now, through training, in his body so it will last. We’ll try and get him some game exposure when we can.