Exclusive: Tom Wagner and co set to attend Birmingham City v Sheffield Wednesday as Chris Davies looks to change fortunes | OneFootball

Birmingham City's hierarchy will be in attendance against Sheffield Wednesday tonight amid growing pressure on Chris Davies, FLW understands...

Tom Wagner will be joined by the rest of Birmingham City's top-brass in attendance for this evening's crunch EFL Championship fixture at home to lowly Sheffield Wednesday, Football League World has been exclusively informed.

The ambitious Second City outfit have endured an underwhelming start to the 2025/26 Championship campaign, in which they have been expected to challenge for consecutive promotions to the Premier League after clinching an EFL-record points haul of 111 to lift the League One title at a canter last time out.

That has, of course, been the expectation both internally and externally, with popular and aspirational chairman Wagner having revealed that target in the wake of Blues' promotion back to the Championship at the first time of asking.

Birmingham's transfer business was symptomatic of that, too, as Davies' side undertook a second successive summer of lavish and ambitious activity in the window by bringing in the likes of Tommy Doyle, Marvin Ducksch, Kyogo Furuhashi, Demarai Gray, Bright Osayi-Samuel and Patrick Roberts in eye-catching deals.

However, ambition and expenditure have not translated into Birmingham's start to the season, in which they have flattered to deceive to date. Saturday afternoon's chastening 3-0 defeat to Frank Lampard's Coventry City marked Blues' fourth defeat from five matches, and has left the side in 11th position after seven outings with pressure and scrutiny on Davies growing from supporters in the aftermath.

For the first time in Davies' tenure at St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park, the former Tottenham Hotspur coach is facing division among some of the Blues faithful, and the pressure will only be raised by the attendance of Blues' hierarchy for tonight's crucial clash at home to Sheffield Wednesday.

Tom Wagner and co set to attend Birmingham City v Sheffield Wednesday

Sources close to Football League World have exclusively disclosed that Birmingham's top brass, including Wagner, will be in attendance for this evening's fixture against the Owls.

Wagner is due at St Andrew’s to see if Davies’ side can recover from their derby mauling against Coventry on the weekend.

The New York-based businessman was returning to the UK ahead of Friday night’s A-list American derby against Wrexham, who have also endured a mixed start in the Championship following promotion but are finding form as of late.

However, Wagner is also now taking in the game against the Owls, hoping to see a positive reaction following the 3-0 defeat against Lampard’s side.

It is unknown whether the investment fund chief has brought forward his plans because of the scale of the reversal at the Coventry Building Society Arena.

But he will want to see if the club can maintain its strong home form against the Championship’s crisis club.

Sheffield Wednesday situation puts added pressure on Birmingham City and Chris Davies

Anything other than a victory this evening would surely intensify the criticism and pressure that Davies and his side have been subjected to in recent weeks, with opponents Wednesday currently second-from-bottom following ruinous summer months under the ownership of Dejphon Chansiri.

Despite their lowly position, the Owls have shown the stomach for a fight this season.

Wednesday earned themselves a morale-boosting win at Portsmouth the last time they went on their travels, before playing out a respectable 1-1 draw against an in-form QPR side on Saturday.

However, they are playing against a backdrop of continued unrest. Fan protests are being planned for the game against Coventry on the weekend against Chansiri.

The club’s mascot, Barney Owl, even took to sporting the black and yellow scarf, which is being used as a symbol of the supporters’ discontent, and the visiting players head into tonight’s game having been informed after training on Monday that there was no clarity over whether they would be paid this month.

It has also emerged that some players are considering refusing to train later this week because of the continued non-payment of wages, which has become a repeated and well-documented issue at Hillsborough in recent months.

They will, however, play tonight's fixture against Birmingham, who will be hoping to put on a show in front of Wagner and co and begin an ascent towards the right, and expected, end of the table.