John Eustace addresses striker search as Birmingham City chase ‘two or three’ transfers

John Eustace hopes Birmingham City can sign ‘two or three’ more players to cap an excellent transfer window.

Blues have signed nine players to date in an extremely busy summer window to give Eustace a squad capable of improving on last season’s Championship performance. Technical director Craig Gardner and head of recruitment Frank McParland are still plugging away behind the scenes to add defensive reinforcements and the centre-forward that everyone craves.

Ex-Cardiff City loanee Sory Kaba was on Blues’ radar but he appears set for a move to Spain with Las Palmas. Blues have other strikers in mind and are waiting to see which players are made available for loan by Premier League clubs.

The situation at the back is arguably more pressing, however, with Eustace down to five fit senior defenders after injuries to Marc Roberts and Marcel Oakley. A new centre-back is wanted, while right-backs are also being assessed.

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“I think everyone can see that we’ve got good numbers in certain areas but we’re very short in others,” said Eustace. “It’s important that we get the right balance throughout the group and I’m hoping two or three more certainly come in.

“We’re still building. It’s important we don’t rush on our signings. You can see the work Craig and Frank have done over the summer, it’s been excellent. We’re doing it the right way and bringing in the right characters, the right players. It’s important everyone stays level-headed and realises we are building over the next two or three years, not the next two or three months.

Scott Hogan has started Blues’ opening two Championship matches, but it was Lukas Jutkiewicz who grabbed the headlines last weekend with the winner from the penalty spot against Leeds. Sam Cosgrove has been an unused substitute in both league games and looks set to depart this month.

On the club’s striker search, Eustace said: “It’s difficult but we’ve got two very good strikers in the building in Jukey and Scott, and also Sammy Cosgrove. It’s important they get chances created for them as well. We were good up to the final third but our final pass to the strikers, our final cross, wasn’t good enough.

“We need to feed Scott, Jukey and Sam in the right areas and they will score goals. Yes, we still need another striker, of course we do, but the ones we’ve got in the building are very good and it’s my job and the team’s job to create chances for them.”