Birmingham City play their final home match of the season on Sunday against Mansfield Town
Ethan Laird of Birmingham City
Ethan Laird could return to the Birmingham City fold for their final home game of the season after missing Thursday’s victory over Stevenage due to illness.
Chris Davies didn’t name a recognised right-back in his squad at Stevenage with Laird unavailable and Alfons Sampsted acting as the 19th man. Taylor Gardner-Hickman deputised in their absences.
Laird, who has made 44 appearances this season and made the right-back spot his own, could return against Mansfield on Sunday for the St Andrew’s finale and trophy lift.
“He’s been a little bit unwell so he was unable to travel,” Davies said of Laird’s condition post-Stevenage.
On the injury front, Emil Hansson appears to be the only player close to leaving the treatment room. Hansson has trained this week and could come into contention for a place in the squad for Blues’ final three matches of the season.
Blues skipper Krystian Bielik has been dealing with an issue for the past two weeks and might not play again this season now.
Davies added: “Hansson is getting closer. He’s doing some good work on the grass now so he’s definitely closer to availability for games.
“Bielik is going to be touch and go if he makes a game again. He’s trying but whether he gets back for the very last game, we’ll see.”
Get the latest Blues headlines sent straight to your phone
BirminghamLive has its very own Birmingham City WhatsApp community to deliver the latest headlines straight to your phone. Just click this link to receive daily Blues content and breaking news. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. Click on the name at the top of your screen while in WhatsApp and click ‘Exit Group’. Read our Privacy Notice.
Everyday, the BirminghamLive football desk strive to deliver all manner of news, features and transfer-related stories as a part of our overall package of Birmingham City content.
Our dedicated reporters Alex Dicken and Brian Dick – you can follow Alex on X here and Brian here – follow Blues around the country and they offer you comprehensive coverage from matchdays, press conferences and everything that happens in between.
So much happens day to day and sometimes you can struggle to keep on top of the very latest updates as and when they occur – that’s why we have produced a daily newsletter which you can sign up to, for free, and which means you’ll have a round-up of the key stories land in your email inbox. Sign up to the Blues newsletter here.
You can also get all your favourite content from BirminghamLive’s Blues team on WhatsApp. Click here to sign up for breaking updates about the biggest stories and insight from in and around the club.
If you prefer reading our Blues stories on your phone, consider downloading the BirminghamLive app, in which you can personalise the content you see by selecting Blues as one of your designated topics. You can get it from Apple here and for Android here.
Our weekly Birmingham City podcast, Keep Right On, is also available to watch and listen on all major streaming services. You can subscribe to the YouTube channel here, while you can access the podcast on Spotify here and via Apple here.