Birmingham City: Chris Davies told to take action involving Tommy Doyle - "Paik and Iwata have not been good enough" | OneFootball

Birmingham City boss Chris Davies has been told to give Tommy Doyle a regular run in the XI after their poor recent form.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Birmingham City boss Chris Davies has been told to give Tommy Doyle a run in the starting XI after his impressive performance against Sheffield Wednesday last time out.

Whilst it was a disappointing result for Blues, as they only salvaged a point thanks to a stoppage time Demarai Gray goal, Doyle was one of the few positives on the night.

The midfielder arrived on an initial loan deal from Wolves in the summer, but he has struggled for regular game time, with his only previous start in the Championship coming away at Stoke - and Doyle played in an unnatural number ten role that day.

Tommy Doyle must be handed a run in Birmingham City’s midfield

However, the 23-year-old was given a start in his preferred position in the week, and he responded with an assured display before he was subbed after 58 minutes, in a move that Davies said was pre-planned.

With Paik Seung-ho and Tomoki Iwata having flourished as a midfield partnership for Blues since the new manager was appointed, it would be a big call for Davies to leave one out on a regular basis.

Yet, when asked by FLW whether Doyle should be starting on a regular basis, Birmingham fan pundit Jason was adamant that the ex-Man City man has to be on the teamsheet week in, week out now.

“At the start of the season, I was fine with him not playing, as he needed to learn the Blues way and earn his spot. But, we’re at a point now where he has clearly shown his quality in the chances he has had, and the regular two in Paik and Iwata have not been good enough.

“He 100% should be starting. He has shown his quality, and I don’t really care which player is dropped. One of them needs dropping and to take a break from the team, it would get them out of the firing line as they’ve not been good enough, and Doyle has shown the Premier League quality we knew we were getting.

“So, right here, right now, he should be playing every single week. I get you want to manage minutes but he should at least be starting and playing most of the game.”

Tommy Doyle can become a key player for Birmingham City

There was a lot of excitement when Blues signed Doyle, and it was easy to see why, as he is a player who has shone in the Championship previously, and he was impressive at times in the top-flight for Wolves.

As outlined above, with Iwata and Paik, he was never going to stroll into the XI immediately, but the reality is that those two have been inconsistent, so it makes sense to give Doyle a run.

He is a player who can help the team with how quickly he moves the ball, and the attacking players would no doubt benefit from having someone like that who can dictate the tempo - as he proved for an hour against Wednesday.

Given Birmingham’s mixed performances, Davies needs to be prepared to make some tough decisions, and many would agree that dropping one of Paik or Iwata for Doyle seems like the necessary next step as he looks to find the right formula to get the team climbing the table quickly.