Birmingham City head to Swansea City in the opening round of the 2023/24 Championship season this weekend.
Birmingham City go into the new season with a newfound air of optimism. The club has undergone some major changes both on and off the pitch this summer and fans are looking forward to what they hope is their most prosperous season in years.
Blues have a number of new players who look set to make their debuts this weekend, but two who don’t look set to introduce themselves to the Birmingham City faithful are Ethan Laird and Lee Buchanan.
Boss John Eustace says the two are carrying knocks, with George Hall, Gary Gardner and Lukas Jutkiewicz also looking like doubts ahead of the trip to Wales.
Speaking to the club, Eustace gave this injury update:
“Ethan Laird and George Hall are still struggling a little bit, we had a behind-closed-doors friendly game on Tuesday and got good minutes into the likes of Gary Gardner and [Lukas] Jukey, it was good to get minutes into those boys. Lee Buchanan hasn’t had much game time, we will take a look at him ahead of the weekend.
Strength in depth
Blues have signed eight new players this summer, all of which joining on permanent deals, so if there’s one thing that they now have then it’s strength in depth.
They were found thin on the ground at times last season but they have a good selection of players to choose from now, so injuries won’t be as much of a headache for Eustace.
It’ll be very interesting to see how this new-look side lines up – Eustace has some good options right across the pitch and it’ll mean some good players being named on the bench for the season opener.
Kick off is at 3pm on Saturday afternoon.
