Birmingham City

Birmingham City boss Chris Davies has been speaking to BBC Radio WM before the FA Cup third round trip to League Two side Cambridge United on Saturday (17:45 GMT).

Here are the key takeaways:

• "It was a very intense four games in 10 days," Davies said of the hectic festive schedule. "Everyone was feeling it. It's been good actually to get a win [against Coventry] to finish off that run on a high and have this week to get that balance of rest and recovery."

• Facing Cambridge will be "very similar" to the games they had in League One last season. "Neil [Harris] has done a good job there," Davies said.

• He added: "They've been strong in League Two. Good defensively, they've got some threats going forward. We've been here many times, these type of games where you're expected to go and get a result but it's not always straightforward so we have to use that experience of last season."

• With just two away wins in all competitions so far this season, performances on the road are "an area we need to improve, so we've got an opportunity".

• On the January transfer window and the future of Marc Leonard and Lyndon Dykes, he said: "There's a lot of moving parts around these players at the moment. No news as such. There is a lot of uncertainty, there's a lot of moving parts, ins and outs and we will have to see how it goes in the next few weeks. How close we are [to a signing], I'm not sure but there's a few names we're looking at, trying to see what we can do to get them in."

• Blues have picked up just one win in the past eight games and Davies said: "This last six weeks has been challenging, no doubt about it. I, like quite a few of the players, will have grown through that and be an even better manager now. I have learned a lot in 18 months but particularly these six weeks. We've been, I believe, really successful in that time [since he took over] and I'm very optimistic about where we're going in the future."

With Patrick Bamford set to extend his loan stay at Sheffield United, Ipswich are set to turn their attentions to Birmingham and Scotland striker Lyndon Dykes, 30, who has also attracted the interest of Charlton. (Football Insider, external)

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

Image source, Getty Images

Birmingham City boss Chris Davies has been fined £2,000 by the Football Association following his sending off in the latter stages of his side's controversial 1-1 draw with Southampton at St Andrew's eight days ago.

Davies was booked for protesting at the manner of Cameron Archer's 71st-minute equaliser for Saints, when referee Matt Donohue did not stop play after he had inadvertently got in the way of Blues skipper Tomoki Iwata during the build-up to the goal.

The Blues boss was then showed a second yellow card - and a subsequent red - for delaying the restart when the Southampton were awarded a free-kick five minutes later.

After the game, with Davies unable to carry out his post-match media duties, Blues assistant boss Ben Petty said the club were "all very, very upset" by the incident.

"It's a very contentious issue. I'm not quite sure why the referee didn't stop the game. He's human and everyone makes mistakes. Ultimately it has cost us two points."

In a statement, the FA said Davies was charged with misconduct after alleging he acted "in an improper manner in or around the 76th minute of the game" adding Davies had admitted the charge and accepted the standard financial penalty.

Birmingham City midfielder Marc Leonard has been given the green light to depart, with a loan deal the preferred option, but boss Chris Davies is hesitant to allow the 24-year-old Scotsman to go unless the midfield is bolstered by new arrivals. (Birmingham Live), external

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

Image source, Getty Images

Birmingham City full-back Bright Osayi-Samuel played the full 90 minutes as Nigeria qualified for the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon).

The 28-year-old featured in his third game of the tournament as the Super Eagles beat Mozambique 4-0 in their last 16 tie in Fes.

Osayi-Samuel was left out of the opening group game against Uganda, with Nigeria now having won all four of their matches at the competition in Morocco.

They will now face either Algeria or DR Congo in Saturday's quarter-final tie in Marrakech (16:00 GMT).

German defender Kai Wagner believes his dedicated fitness regime allowed him to step straight into the Birmingham City starting line-up just two days after signing for the Championship club.

The 28-year-old played 71 minutes of the 3-2 win over leaders Coventry on Sunday following his arrival from MLS side Philadelphia Union.

"I felt good. Six weeks, no games, one training session, a lot of hard work in the off season, but I'm really happy," he told BBC Radio WM.

"I always try to keep my body as good as possible. I'm a big believer if you maintain your body you will get the best out of yourself.

"This off season was probably a little bit more because the (transfer) talk started early …. so I did everything possible to be as ready as I can and did all the hard work at home."

He added: "To get the trust from the coach and to get the trust from the players felt big."

Earning the trust paid instant rewards, with Wagner providing an assist for Marvin Ducksch's opener after just six minutes.

"That's how you always think about your debut when you come in," he said.

"I was joking with Marvin before the game, 'if you're in the right position, I'll give you the ball'.

"He was in the right position, I gave him a bad ball in my eyes, but he had a great finish so I'm really happy for him and for myself, too."

Sunderland are prepared to let Luke O'Nien, 31, depart this month with Birmingham, Coventry and West Bromwich Albion interested in the English defender. (Chronicle), external

Blackburn Rovers are interested in a loan deal for Brighton's former Republic of Ireland Under-21 defender Eiran Cashin, with the 24-year-old only making 11 Championship appearances during his current loan spell with Birmingham City this season. (Alan Nixon - subscription required), external

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

Birmingham boss Chris Davies was delighted with his side's reaction after they recovered from their New Year's Day mauling by Watford to beat Championship leaders Coventry 3-2.

Marvin Ducksch scored twice in between on-loan Liverpool forward Lewis Koumas' first effort for Birmingham to settle a Midlands thriller.

Davies told BBC Radio WM: "I thought we were really strong today against the league leaders. Nobody gave us a chance today and I thought the boys were fantastic.

"I think they had to show all sorts of sides to themselves. Moments of quality, good goals, run hard, battle, tackle, head, everything."

On two-goal hero Ducksch he said: "We know Marvin's got the quality and I think he was really good. He enjoyed it today, he enjoyed his football today. He moved well and tried to combine and then a fantastic finish for his first goal. When they come over like that, you can easily go safe on those, but he went hard and it went in."

Birmingham City boss Chris Davies spoke to BBC Radio WM after Thursday's 3-0 defeat at Watford.

"It was a performance that was nowhere near the level required to win a football match. In the first half it didn't seem there was a lot in the match at all, but the two times they got into our box they scored such easy goals," he said.

"It seemed strange to be 2-0 down at half time considering, but we certainly didn't do enough defensively in those key moments.

"In the second half it was a case of trying to bring a bit of energy and trying to add something to change the dynamics slightly, but it was to no avail.

"We didn't improve our energy, we didn't improve our fluidity, we didn't improve out threat and we obviously still looked susceptible to the counter attack, which is how they ended up scoring their third goal.

"I can only apologise to the fans for that performance, it was nowhere near the level required form a Birmingham City team and team I'm trying to lead here. It was a really disappointing day."

Watford will look to extend their good run of form as visitors Birmingham City hope to end their winless spell as the two sides meet at Vicarage Road on New Year's Day (15:00 GMT).

The Hornets have won their past three successive games to put themselves into the play-off places and are undefeated across their last six, though the last team to beat them were Blues.

However, the West Midlands side haven't been able to find another win since that victory at St Andrew's in December.

Can they end a six match winless streak to deliver a league double against their hosts?

• Watford have won each of their last six home league games against Birmingham City without conceding; only against Portsmouth between 1962 and 1989 have they kept seven clean sheets in a row on home turf.

• Birmingham City had won just one of their last 12 league meetings with Watford prior to this season (D1 L10) but won the reverse fixture 2-1 last month; the Blues last completed a league double over the Hornets in 2008-09.

• Watford have only won their opening fixture in two of the last 14 calendar years (D2 L10), beating Wolves 2-1 in the Premier League in 2020 and Norwich in the Championship in 2023.

• Birmingham City haven't won a league game on New Year's Day since 1991 away at Mansfield Town (2-1), going winless in 15 such matches since then (D5 L10), which is the longest ongoing winless streak on January 1st of any team in England's top four tiers.

• Watford have only lost one of their last nine home league games against newly promoted opposition (W4 D4), winning all three such games last season.

Image source, Shutterstock

Birmingham City assistant manager Ben Petty spoke to BBC Radio WM after their 1-1 draw with Southampton.

Blues boss Chris Davies was sent off in the game wand was therefore unable to speak to the media.

"I thought the team were outstanding tonight. We had make a few changes because of suspensions and injury, I thought the players that came in gave everything," he said.

"We've been good with our set plays and I think we deserved the goal and could have had a couple more before that went in.

"I think tonight you saw the best of Jay Stansfield, pressing superbly well from the front and coming in from the left. He had the bit between his teeth and was very unlucky not to score.

(On Southampton goal) "We're all very, very upset by it, it's a very contentious issue. I'm not quite sure why the referee didn't stop the game. He's human and everyone makes mistakes. Ultimately it has cost us two points."