Southampton & Birmingham City may breath a sigh of relief as £5m player suffers setback | OneFootball

Southampton and Birmingham may be glad they didn't move for the Wrexham midfielder after his latest setback

Lewis O'Brien looks set for a spell on the sidelines after sustaining a knee injury and dislocating his shoulder in Wrexham's 2-1 away defeat to Swansea City on Friday night.

It was a glum Friday night for Wrexham, who lost to Welsh rivals Swansea City on Friday night courtesy of Arthur Okonkwo's late blunder, gifting Adam Idah an empty net to prod home to secure a 2-1 victory.

But before that, midfielder Lewis O'Brien was introduced in the 68th minute for George Thomason, but would last just seven minutes on the pitch before Ethan Galbraith's challenge meant he could continue no more.

It has since emerged that the Englishman has sustained a knee injury and dislocated his shoulder as a result of Galbraith's challenge, which has left Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson understandably outraged.

Following the defeat, Parkinson said: "If you all look at the tackle - we all will - it's a bad tackle. It's high, it's dangerous, I think he's very lucky not to get red.

"He's injured his knee and he's dislocated his shoulder.

"It's tough for him because he's been good for us, Lewis, and he was coming back to a club he was at last year."

It remains to be seen exactly how long O'Brien is facing out, but it almost certainly won't be for a short period of time, much to the annoyance of Wrexham, and maybe to the relief of two fellow Championship clubs who were interested in the midfielder in the summer.

Birmingham City and Southampton were interested in Lewis O'Brien during the summer window

According to Alan Nixon, both Birmingham City and Southampton were interested in signing O'Brien this summer, who was made available for transfer after it was made clear he would be playing no part for Premier League side Nottingham Forest for the upcoming campaign.

Birmingham had just been promoted, whilst Southampton had just been relegated, with both clubs undergoing busy summer rebuilds as they prepared for life in the EFL Championship.

As it went, O'Brien would end up signing for Wrexham for £5 million, and has been a regular in the Welsh outfit's side since his summer switch, but is now set for a spell from the sidelines.

Birmingham would sign Tommy Doyle on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers instead, whilst Southampton would sign Caspar Jander from FC Nuremberg, with Shea Charles also returning to the side following his loan spell at Sheffield Wednesday.

With O'Brien's latest update, both clubs may be glad they decided to pursue other targets after all.

Birmingham City and Southampton will now be relieved at missing out on Lewis O'Brien

Both Birmingham and Southampton will be breathing sighs of relief after the latest O'Brien revelation.

Indeed, the injury he sustained was of no fault of his own, and should he have joined either of the two aforementioned clubs, there's a good chance he would not have been injured in nearly the same way.

Despite this, both clubs can be pleased with their current midfield options, with Flynn Downes and Jander forming an excellent partnership for Tonda Eckert at Southampton, whilst Seung-Ho Paik and Doyle have formed a good partnership at St Andrew's.

Either Wrexham, Birmingham, or Southampton can put together a run for the play-offs this season, with the Championship as tight as ever. If any side can put together a few wins on the bounce, they can easily see themselves shooting up the table.

The injury to O'Brien will make that task just a little bit harder for Wrexham, who are going to miss his tenacity and aggression in the middle of the park.