Jay Stansfield wasn’t able to get on the scoresheet in Birmingham City’s 1-1 draw with Hull City on Saturday
Jay Stansfield of Birmingham City
Chris Davies says he is ‘baffled’ by the attention Jay Stansfield receives.
The Birmingham City striker fired another blank against Hull City on Saturday and, in truth, he never looked like scoring at the MKM Stadium.
Blues were bailed out by a stunner from Tomoki Iwata to earn a point on their travels after Joe Gelhardt’s opener for the Tigers.
Stansfield was substituted just after the hour and his record of one goal in his last 27 appearances is cause for concern.
The 23-year-old made a promising start to his second season in the Championship with nine goals (all competitions) in his first 17 games, but his winner against Leicester City in February is the only goal he has managed since November.
Due to the fee Blues paid for him – a club-record in excess of £10million – Stansfield is still an easy target for some supporters in the Championship.
Hull fans chanted ‘what a waste of money’ when Stansfield was substituted and Davies launched a stern defence of his player in his post-match press conference.
“This attention that he gets baffles me,” says Davies. “There’s a lot more players that have cost a lot more money and everything else and everyone seems to focus on Jay. I don’t quite understand it to be perfectly honest.
“He’s joined us in League One, and he’s a young English player making his way, still with lots to improve and learn, but I trust him a lot because of his honesty and application.”
In defence of Stansfield’s numbers, he has managed 10 goals and seven assists this season which is the most by a Blues player.
It is also worth remembering that most of Stansfield’s football has been played off the front this season.
Still, Stansfield isn’t exactly getting an abundance of clear-cut chances and that is something managers always point to when previously prolific forwards are going through goal droughts.
Davies explained: “It’s the role that he’s playing. He’s playing as a 10 behind August (Priske) and I’m having him focus on gaining second balls and doing a bit of a midfield job.
“It was a game of few chances for all the strikers, even (Oli) McBurnie didn’t really have any.
Jay has played in multiple positions and we know what we’re going to get from him in terms of his energy and intensity. I’m confident with Jay that he will score goals because of how he is.
“We’re working on his game and how to improve it. I was speaking to him this week, we had a meeting, and we were looking at things and on the training pitch we’ve been trying to add bits to his game.
“He played as a 10 against Ipswich and got an assist, as an example, and if you look at the best 10 in the league, (Jack) Rudoni or someone like that… (his numbers compare favourably)
“The ones I’ve played as a 10 are strikers really, they’re not in the pocket like Kieran Dowell who they’ve got here now. He’s more of a classic 10 in that sense.
“Jay is not that and he never will be but he does give you something different in there.
“He will want to score. I know what he’s like. He will want to score. Hopefully before the end of the season he can get a couple of goals.”
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