Birmingham City told to "go and get" Sunderland player this January - it's not Patrick Roberts | OneFootball

Blues are extremely light on natural or dependable cover at left-back

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…

After a hefty summer of continued investment, eyes will undoubtedly be cast on Birmingham City's activity throughout the January transfer window, which is just over a month away from opening.

Throughout the past year or so, Blues have never shied away from their well-publicised short-term end goal, which is to see the club return to the Premier League after a lengthy spell in the Championship and League One.

In order to increase their chances of promotion, American owner, Tom Wagner and director of football, Craig Gardner, have continuously backed Chris Davies when identifying key and high-quality additions to what many believed was a competent Championship side at the bare minimum as the West Midlands side amassed a staggering 111 points last season.

Many predictions went through the roof as a result of yet another eye-catching summer recruitment drive, during which the likes of Kyogo Furuhashi, Marvin Ducksch and Demarai Gray were added to Davies' list of attacking and creative forces, whilst the likes of Bright Osayi-Samuel, Phil Neumann and Jack Robinson helped plug gaps, or add to the experience and quality within Birmingham's rearguard.

As impressive as a handful of those 14 incomings have been, or have been predicted to become over due course, there is still one glaringly obvious dilemma in the eyes of many when looking at Davies' current options on paper, with injuries and availability at the forefront of such issues.

The aforementioned worries stem through a lack of options at left-back at this moment in time for Davies, although it must be said that the 40-year-old and the vast majority of supporters have very little concerns regarding the availability and consistency shown by Alex Cochrane.

The former Brighton and Hove Albion man has been a mainstay ever since joining from Hearts for an initial sum of £1.3m last July, and has very rarely put a foot wrong alongside the likes of Christoph Klarer, who moved to St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park during the same transfer window.

Cochrane has also scored twice for Blues, with both being extremely tidy finishes against Stevenage and Millwall, and is so often a winner in one-on-one situations against opposition wingers, whilst providing another creative outlet for Davies on the left flank when venturing forward.

Whilst Jack Robinson can provide cover, the ex-Sheffield United captain is more of a natural left-sided centre-back and has already split opinion amongst supporters with two red cards for the club already, whilst Ethan Laird - who filled the void left by a minor injury to Cochrane earlier in the campaign - remains sidelined with a hamstring issue alongside Lee Buchanan, who has been out of action since last December through a serious knee issue.

The ex-Derby County man's two-year stint at St. Andrew's has been a tale of misfortune, and he is currently omitted from Davies' 25-man squad alongside Scottish winger, Scott Wright.

Yet, whilst Buchanan hopes to return to fitness in the coming weeks, Football League World's Birmingham City fan pundit, Jason Moore, believes a deal for Sunderland defender, Dennis Cirkin, should certainly be explored.

Blues already have a strong track record when it comes to deals with the Black Cats, with Cirkin's Stadium of Light teammate, Patrick Roberts, in fine form as part of a strong run of attacking outpit under Davies of late.

The Dublin-born man was a key figure in Regis Le Bris' side last term as they went on to defeat Sheffield United in the play-off final at Wembley in May, and would offer Davies a slightly different option to that of Cochrane, albeit Cirkin's creative numbers last term were still highly respectable.

Despite being linked with a shock return to Tottenham Hotspur in the summer, the left-back, who is reportedly earning £20,000 per week on Wearside, appears to have fallen down Le Bris' pecking order due to injury and the summer additions of Reinildo and Arthur Masuaku.

As such, Moore believes he would represent a smart move for Blues, with his Sunderland contract also expiring in June.

"If that's an option for us to go and target, 100 percent, go and get him," he told FLW.

"I absolutely love Lee Buchanan. But, he's had an absolute torrid time of it. I could be wrong, but I imagine he really struggles to come back fit with the amount of football he's missed, then you've got to integrate him into Chris Davies' system correctly, which is going to take time.

"I think he's playing a lot of catch-up," he added. "Ethan Laird can do a job there. But, again, barring last season, he's always injured.

"If you can get Cirkin, I think that would be a good move. It's just whether he's happy coming in as back-up to Alex Cochrane to begin with.

"This is the issue with anyone we go and recruit at left-back. You know with Alex Cochrane, you're getting a solid 7 or 7/5/10 every single game. He's just solid," Moore explained.

"If he was to come in and play back up to Cochrane to begin with and earn his spot, that's a cracking shout.

"It would help us with that extra push because, to be fair, Cochrane, as fit as he is, it's going to start showing come January and February and we don't want that."