Exclusive: Sky Sports pundit issues "no doubts" claim on Birmingham City star after injury "fears" | OneFootball

Lee Hendrie has given his reaction to a big update on the fitness of Birmingham City striker Jay Stansfield's injury.

EFL pundit Lee Hendrie believes Birmingham City will be delighted by the news that striker Jay Stansfield's injury is not as bad as initially feared.

After a successful loan spell at the club, Stansfield joined Birmingham on a permanent basis from Fulham last summer for a staggering fee of more than £15 million, and he scored 23 goals and provided three assists in 44 games last season as his side stormed to the League One title and reached the final of the Vertu Trophy.

Some had questioned whether Stansfield could deliver in the Championship, but he has already started to silence the doubters after scoring three goals in his first five appearances of the season during what has been a promising start to the campaign for Chris Davies' side.

However, Stansfield missed Birmingham's 2-0 defeat at Leicester City on Friday night after taking a knock to his ankle in the closing stages of the 1-0 loss to Port Vale last week, and that left many supporters frustrated at Davies for playing his star striker in an EFL Cup game.

After the defeat at the King Power Stadium, Davies claimed that Stansfield "won’t be out too long", and he predicted that his absence would be "more of a weeks thing", rather than an extended period on the sidelines.

The good news for Davies is that the prognosis on Stansfield's injury is even better than he expected, and as FLW exclusively revealed, the 22-year-old could even be fit for the trip to Stoke City next weekend in the first game back after the international break.

Lee Hendrie reacts to positive Jay Stansfield, Birmingham City update

Speaking exclusively to Football League World, Hendrie admitted that the positive update on Stansfield's injury is a big boost for Birmingham, and he claimed that, while they have a squad that is full of quality, the England Under-21 international is one of their most important players.

"He's going to be a big player for them this season," Hendrie told FLW.

"I have no doubts that Jay Stansfield will continue to do what he has done so far, and that is be a big hit at the club.

"I think there were fears that he could have a longer-term injury, which doesn't seem to be the case and the facts at the moment.

"Happy days for Birmingham, they'll be over the moon with that.

"Hopefully he will be fit for the next game because, although they've got a big squad of players, I think he is one of the big players."

Birmingham City and Chris Davies will be relieved by Jay Stansfield injury news

Many Birmingham supporters felt that Davies took an unnecessary risk by bringing Stansfield on in the EFL Cup against Port Vale, and their worst fears were realised when he suffered an injury towards the end of the game.

Stansfield was seen hobbling around the training ground with a protective boot, raising fears that he could be set for a lengthy lay-off, but Davies will be incredibly relieved that he could be back available as soon as next weekend.

Davies has some strong options in the forward areas to fill in for Stansfield, including the likes of Kyogo Furuhashi, Marvin Ducksch and Lyndon Dykes, but his absence was felt in the defeat at Leicester on Friday as the Blues struggled to create any meaningful chances in the game, despite having significantly more possession than their opponents.

With Stoke picking up nine points out of a possible 12 so far this season, it is a big game next Saturday between two of the early pace-setters in the Championship, and Davies will be hopeful that he can call upon Stansfield's services at the bet365 Stadium.