Worrying Birmingham City update emerges after full-time whistle in Millwall loss | OneFootball

The Blues endured a sorry night against Millwall at The Den on Wednesday

Birmingham City were left heavily frustrated on Wednesday night, with Chris Davies' side enduring their worst performance for some time as they were well-beaten by Millwall at The Den.

Despite convincingly seeing off the same opponents 4-0 at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park on November 4th, Blues saw the roles well and truly reversed in South London in midweek, as they very rarely laid a glove on the Lions, who closed the gap on the automatic promotion places back to just four points with a deserved 3-0 success.

It was a first Championship defeat since a loss by the same scoreline against Watford at Vicarage Road on New Year's Day for Birmingham, as Femi Azeez, Tristan Crama and Jake Cooper found the back of the net, whilst Jhon Solis, who had previously impressed since completing his initial loan switch from Girona FC last month, was shown a second yellow card after 53 minutes.

However, a grim night for those from the West Midlands was compounded by the loss of yet another highly-influential January recruit in the form of Kai Wagner.

The German full-back was recruited from Philadelphia Union in the opening days of the winter transfer window, with Davies swiftly able to eradicate well-documented problems that had previously arose in the left-back department of his squad with the £2m acquisition of his services.

However, with supporters already concerned that the result and the nature of Blues' performance against a side also harbouring ambitions of the Premier League showcased exactly why their club may miss out on the top six, they were left fearing the worst when the 29-year-old had to be replaced by the returning Ethan Laird with 22 minutes of the encounter still remaining.

And, it's fair to say that Davies' initial thoughts on the German's injury will only add to those concerns ahead of next Monday's critical clash with second-placed Middlesbrough in B9.

Chris Davies issues concerning Kai Wagner, Birmingham City injury update after Millwall loss

As previously mentioned, Davies has struggled with availability issues right through his defensive department this season, and Wagner's first blow since joining Blues last month has only added to that list.

Whilst it would have been a positive for supporters to see the aforementioned Laird return to action for the second time in a matter of days after a lengthy absence of his own with a hamstring issue, the fact he was replacing the stricken Wagner, who suffered a blow to the shoulder, was far from ideal.

The full-back has provided Birmingham with plenty of attacking threat from deep in just 11 appearances, as well as earning plenty of praise for his defensive solidity.

However, he will now join his left-back colleagues, Alex Cochrane and Lee Buchanan, on the sidelines, with Davies stating that the early signs of his injury, which was sustained in a duel with Ryan Leonard, aren't promising.

“I don’t know if it’s a dislocation but it’s a heavy whack and it doesn’t look too promising right now. We will find out more information about that in the morning," said Davies.

Chris Davies will be heavily frustrated by fresh Birmingham City left-back dilemma

Wagner's injury has come at a far from ideal time for Blues, with Cochrane set to be unavailable until April with an ankle issue, whilst Buchanan is still not ready to be involved as he builds up his fitness, 14 months after sustaining a serious ACL issue.

The aforementioned Laird has featured at left-back on occasions, and so has Jack Robinson during his Sheffield United days, albeit neither are naturals in this area of the pitch, meaning it is very much a case of a 'square peg in a round hole'.