{"id":555572,"date":"2025-11-07T18:01:24","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T18:01:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/555572\/"},"modified":"2025-11-07T18:01:24","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T18:01:24","slug":"birmingham-city-handed-fresh-injury-boost-as-chris-davies-relies-on-gut-feeling-for-middlesbrough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/555572\/","title":{"rendered":"Birmingham City handed fresh injury boost as Chris Davies relies on \u2018gut feeling\u2019 for Middlesbrough"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Birmingham City take on third-placed Middlesbrough in their next Championship match on Saturday (3pm)<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0_JS376298160.jpg\" alt=\"Willum Willumsson of Birmingham City \" loading=\"eager\"  \/>Willum Willumsson of Birmingham City <\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"birminghammail\">Willum Willumsson has started light training after two months out injured in a boost to <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/all-about\/birmingham-city-fc\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Birmingham CityLink opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Birmingham City<\/a> boss <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/all-about\/chris-davies-football-coach\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Chris Davies.Link opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Chris Davies.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"birminghammail\">The Icelandic midfielder hasn\u2019t featured for Blues since late August due to an unspecified injury and has missed the club\u2019s last 10 Championship fixtures.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"birminghammail\"><a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/all-about\/willum-willumsson\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"WillumssonLink opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Willumsson<\/a> joined his teammates on the grass for the first time on Friday morning and will build up his fitness over the international break.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"birminghammail\">Providing an update, Davies said: \u201cHe\u2019s trained lightly today for the first time with the team \u2013 in a light fashion. Hopefully, over the international break there can be more of those sessions and he can slowly start to build.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"birminghammail\">\u201cIt\u2019s been a while so therefore it\u2019s going to take him a while to get up to speed again. He\u2019s not injured as such, it\u2019s just a case of building his training now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"birminghammail\">Blues set off for Middlesbrough on Friday afternoon and the expectation is that Davies will name the same starting XI for the third successive game \u2013 something he hasn\u2019t done yet this season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"birminghammail\">Davies reported no new injuries at his pre-match press conference and explained the process he will go through before determining whether the same XI can go again at the Riverside.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"birminghammail\">\u201cI will look at the data from the games, how much we\u2019ve sprinted and ran. Their recovery and how they recover is essential,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"birminghammail\">\u201cI also talk to the players and get a feel for how they are individually sometimes if I think there\u2019s a question mark.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"birminghammail\">\u201cI gather as much scientific information and then go with my own gut feeling around how players are.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Have Blues missed Willumsson? Have your say <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/football-news\/birmingham-city-handed-fresh-injury-32834336#comments-wrapper\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"HERELink opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">HERE<\/a>Get the latest Blues headlines sent straight to your phone<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">BirminghamLive has its very own <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/all-about\/birmingham-city-fc\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Birmingham CityLink opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Birmingham City<\/a> WhatsApp community to deliver the latest headlines straight to your phone. Just <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/chat.whatsapp.com\/B9XQh6yFkASKxe76buz3SU\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"click this linkLink opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">click this link<\/a> 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\u2019t 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 &#8216;Exit Group&#8217;. 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