The 7 players set to miss Birmingham City v Leeds United - £17.4m star features | OneFootball

Seven players will miss out on the upcoming FA Cup fourth round clash between Birmingham City and Leeds United

The FA Cup is back for the fourth round this weekend, and one of the glamour ties sees last season's League One title winners take on last season's Championship winners, as Birmingham City plays host to Leeds United.

Both sides will see the cup as a slight distraction from their main goals this campaign.

For Birmingham, they'll be hoping that they can wind up in the play-offs come May, while Leeds will be wanting their solid league form over the past few months to continue en route to survival in their first season back in the Premier League.

However, it's a cliché that winning breeds confidence, and both the Blues and the Whites will be relishing the opportunity to continue their momentum, while also progressing to the last 16 of the greatest cup competition in the world.

The earlier rounds allow managers to rotate their squads and hand out minutes to those who usually don't get them. That being said, these seven players won't be featuring regardless at St Andrew's.

Seung-ho Paik

Starting with the hosts, who come into this one a little more battered and bruised than their Premier League counterparts. The fresh injury concern for Chris Davies surrounds Seung-ho Paik, who was withdrawn 15 minutes into the Blues' goalless draw with West Brom on Tuesday.

It's the second shoulder injury that the influential South Korean midfielder has suffered this season, after he dislocated it in a November defeat against Middlesbrough.

After the game, Davies admitted that the injury was "concerning, because he's a massive player."

"It's obviously very painful to experience getting your shoulder like that again. We will have to see how he is and what exactly it means because it's the second time it's happened now."

Paik missed just one game after his initial injury and will miss the FA Cup tie this time round. As Davies alluded to in his pre-match press conference, he'll see a specialist next week.

Jack Robinson

Jack Robinson has endured a difficult start to life at Birmingham this season, missing numerous games due to suspension, and now, due to a hamstring injury he picked up in the latter stages of the third round win at Cambridge United.

Chris Davies said in his pre-match press conference that he's yet to make his return to training, but given that the Blues are undefeated in the last six, with three clean sheets, too, his absence hasn't been too greatly missed on the field.

Alex Cochrane

In terms of longer-term injuries, left-back Alex Cochrane has made just two appearances since December 6th and hasn't seen the pitch since New Year's Day due to an ankle injury.

There was initial optimism that he could return soon, but that was squashed in mid-January, when it was revealed that the 25-year-old would be out for months.

Cochrane, who has been an integral part of the Blues set-up over the last 18 months, is still targeting a return by the end of the season, but this cup tie will come too soon.

Ethan Laird

Ethan Laird will be champing at the bit to get back involved with the Birmingham fold, as it should only be a matter of time before he's back in training, having missed nearly five months now with a hamstring tear.

An update last November revealed that Chris Davies was targeting a return this month for the versatile full-back, and in his press conference this Friday, the Blues boss stated that his first group training session was earlier that day, but he won't be discussed for selection this weekend.

His return will be warmly welcomed, as the Blues continue to operate rather lightly on either side of the back four.

Lee Buchanan

And finally, Lee Buchanan hasn't been seen in a Birmingham shirt since the final game of 2024, when he suffered a serious knee injury. 14 months on, he's working on building his fitness levels back up to the point where he can be selected again.

Given he also missed the majority of the first half of the 2024/25 campaign with a calf injury, that fitness work will take a lot longer than normal. Since the end of the 2023/24 campaign, the 24-year-old has made just three league appearances.

Whether he'll play a big part in Chris Davies' side when he does return is yet to be seen, but either way, Blues fans will be happy to see him back out on the field when that moment comes.

Anton Stach

From Leeds' side, Daniel Farke still won't be able to call on Anton Stach, as revealed in his press conference on Friday afternoon.

The German midfielder, who signed from Werder Bremen in the summer for £17.4 million, has been missing the last couple of Premier League games with a hip injury, and while he isn't expected to be out for long, the trip to Birmingham comes too soon.

Pascal Struijk

Pascal Struijk sat out of Leeds' midweek draw with Chelsea due to a hip flexor injury. At the time, Daniel Farke stated that the trip to Stamford Bridge was too quick a turnaround, which gave some optimism that he could be back this weekend.