Birmingham City face five games in 13 days after their showdown with Crawley Town was relocated for Sky Sports coverage
Chris Davies has criticised the timing of Birmingham City’s first holiday encounter at Crawley Town, conceding it offers his promotion rivals an advantage.
Blues will make the six-hour round trip to Sussex to meet Crawley at 8pm on Monday – 67 hours before their Boxing Day clash with Burton Albion gets off at St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park. Top-of-the-table Wycombe, meanwhile, played Bolton on Friday night while Wrexham landed a 12:30 start on Saturday against Bristol Rovers.
Whilst Wycombe face five contests in 16 days over Christmas and New Year, Blues have five games in 13 days up to January 4. The busiest time in the football calendar will be considerably hectic for Blues
“It gives them a three-day advantage and it’s not ideal for us, and I’m sure they would feel the same if they had a game on a Monday night at eight o’clock down there,” said Blues manager Davies. “It’s more preparation time for the opposition, or our rivals if you like, but at the end of the day you need to play the games anyway. We’re looking forward to it because Crawley are a team that like to play so it’s a nice opportunity for us.”
The busy schedule offers little time for training. Blues’ players will report to their headquarters in Henley-in-Arden but the most of their work will be concentrated around rehabilitation between games.
Davies added “It’s game, two days, game, two days, game, two days, so within that we need to schedule a day off or two to give the players rest and time at home. We’ll map that all out but as it is, we are in after the games to rest and prepare for the next one.”
Working on Christmas Day is the norm for most managers and footballers. Davies went further: “My family are used to it and if you’re in, it’s normally the morning to do your work and then you go home.”
Davies insisted on assembling a large squad for the winter and will have to rotate his players during this time. The Blues have a home game against Blackpool on December 29 and away games against Stockport and Wigan in the New Year, following their recent FA Cup victory.
Ethan Laird, Taylor Gardner-Hickman, Marc Leonard, Luke Harris, and Lyndon Dykes are all capable of stepping up when Davies needs them to. Davies made wholesale changes for recent cup games against Blackpool and Exeter, and his team won both, boosting confidence.
He said, “The Blackpool game was a good example because we made ten changes.” Except for the midfield, Blackpool fielded a full-strength team for that game, and we competed well and won. That allowed me to do it again in Exeter.
“Making wholesale changes for a league game can be difficult, but it gave me good encouragement while also providing fitness and exposure to players who needed it. In retrospect, I’m glad I made those two decisions because they set us up for success. A few players have minutes under their belts, and if they are called upon now, as they are likely to be, they will be prepared.”
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