Birmingham City defender Lee Buchanan has seen his comeback from injury derailed
Lee Buchanan in Birmingham City training(Image: BCFC)
Lee Buchanan has suffered a set-back in his quest to return from a long-term knee injury.
The left-back played his first minutes in over 14 months for Birmingham City’s under-21s against Middlesbrough last week but hasn’t been able to build on it.
Buchanan, who last played for Blues’ first team in December 2024, experienced some discomfort and his comeback has been put on ice.
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“He’s picked up another knock unfortunately, which is really hard to take for Lee and everyone around him because he’s been training really well. It looks like that will set him back another few weeks,” Chris Davies confirmed to BirminghamLive on Friday afternoon.
“It’s really unfortunate. He’s so professional and diligent in everything that he does.”
Buchanan, 25, ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament and it isn’t uncommon for players to experience niggles when they resume playing again due to the length of time this particular injury takes to heal.
But that is likely to be no consolation for Buchanan who has been unavailable for 92 games since Davies took charge in the summer of 2024.
Prior to suffering his knee injury, Buchanan struggled with two separate calf issues at the beginning of Blues’ League One title-winning season.
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Asked about the mental toll this is taking on Buchanan, Davies said: “Lee is very impressive. He’s handled it with a lot of courage.
“I’m sure he’s hurting and we’re really gutted about the situation, but he’s stayed very professional and very consistent.
“He’s trying to face the challenges head on. He knows that he’s young enough, he’s not a 34-year-old and that’s it, we just need to find a consistency in his training programme to get him fit and robust enough to start lasting in matches.
“That will happen. He’s just having a really torrid time of injuries. I’m sure he will be able to turn that around in time and we’ve got to help him do it.”
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