Christoph Klarer is arguably Birmingham City’s most important player and he has been ever-present in the league this season
Birmingham City defender Christoph Klarer is one booking away from a ban
Christoph Klarer is walking the suspension tightrope for Birmingham City with two games to play before the yellow card amnesty comes in.
Klarer picked up his fourth Championship booking of the season against West Bromwich Albion, meaning a caution against either Watford or Southampton will see him miss a match.
Southampton marks Blues’ 19th league fixture of the season and it is after this game that five yellow cards will no longer result in a ban.
Blues skipper Klarer has been ever-present so far this season and will be desperate to avoid a booking in the next two games.
Should Klarer get booked against Watford on Monday he will miss the trip to Southampton, the club he spent four years with after joining as a 16-year-old in 2016. A booking against the Saints would see Klarer suspended for the trip to Queens Park Rangers.
Chris Davies has already coped without Bright Osayi-Samuel due to suspension and Tomoki Iwata will miss the Watford match after collecting his fifth booking of the campaign at The Hawthorns.
But the Blues boss won’t want to go into a Championship game without his captain.
It has been Klarer plus one in the middle of Blues’ defence since the 6ft 4in Austrian pitched up in the Second City 18 months ago and he was recently rewarded for his stellar showings with a new four-year contract.
In a defence of many moving parts this season, Klarer has been the constant and his partnership with Phil Neumann has flourished in the last month.
Should Klarer incur a suspension, Davies will have to turn to one of Jack Robinson or Eiran Cashin – both of whom have endured difficult starts to their Blues careers.
While Robinson has been sent off twice in four outings since joining Blues from Sheffield United, Cashin’s only league start saw him make two errors that led to goals in a draw with Sheffield Wednesday.
Davies has brought Robinson back into the squad since he returned from suspension at the expense of out-of-favour midfielder Kanya Fujimoto and a line has been drawn in the sand following the fallout of his ill-disciplined red card versus Hull.
Robinson was first port of call earlier in the season, so maybe that is an insight into Davies’ thinking if Klarer does indeed need to be replaced for a match.
Given the way his Blues career has started, Robinson certainly owes his manager, teammates and supporters a performance when his next chance comes.
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