Chris Davies bats away Lyndon Dykes claim ahead of Birmingham City's Charlton clash | OneFootball

Chris Davies' Birmingham City side takes on Dykes' Charlton Athletic this Saturday

Birmingham City are looking to cling onto their play-off hopes after back-to-back defeats when they travel to the Valley to take on Charlton Athletic.

Chris Davies' side has seen the points gap between themselves and the top six increase from two to eight points over the last week-and-a-half, and with 11 games left, they face a difficult task of overturning that.

A game against an Addicks outfit who are winless in four and seven points above the drop does, on paper, provide a slight release after their two games against promotion hopefuls Millwall and Middlesbrough, and, even with their shaky away form across the campaign, they'll come into this one as favourites.

However, that's not to say that there won't be any issues to navigate. The two sides are familiar with each other, having come up from League One together last season, and this exact fixture last year resulted in one of the three defeats that Birmingham incurred in the third tier last year.

Additionally, there's now the added factor of Charlton's new talisman, Lyndon Dykes, lining up for Nathan Jones against his former club.

Dykes never had much of an opportunity while at Birmingham, but he was called on numerous times by Chris Davies when his side needed a goal, and he netted some important ones during his 18-month spell at St Andrew's.

Chris Davies rebukes claim that Lyndon Dykes' factor may make a difference against Charlton Athletic

The towering Scottish striker almost departed in the summer, but talks with Hibernian fell through at the eleventh hour. In the end, he left for Charlton, where he's become a regular option up front for the first time since he left QPR for Birmingham at the beginning of last season.

Evidently, he'll play a big part against his former club, both on the field and potentially off it, too, as Nathan Jones will no doubt have been asking him for some intel on how the Blues may set up that his staff may not be able to obtain.

Ultimately, though, Birmingham manager Chris Davies doesn't think his year-and-a-half at St Andrew's will affect how things pan out at the Valley this weekend.

"A lot of the strikers you come up against have been well coached and understand the game fairly well," he said, per Birmingham Live.

"Lyndon will know how we work and what we do. I don't think it will make a massive impact. They'll know each other — our players and him — but my feeling is that it won't make a huge impact tactically.

"Because there's been continuity at Charlton and here for the time I've been here, we know them pretty well, and they know us, so I don't think there'll be too many surprises.

"This is a game we have to go after. It's not a time to be playing with fear; it's a time to be playing with a positive mindset because it's a game we can go and make an impact."

Lyndon Dykes may have a point to prove against Birmingham City

Dykes was often overlooked by Chris Davies at Birmingham as a regular starter, instead being a 'break glass in case of emergency' striker used to help consolidate late leads or grab important goals.

The Scottish international was effective in that role, though, netting the winner off the bench in their EFL Trophy semi-final win over Bradford City last season, plus a couple of late winners against Blackburn Rovers and Swansea City in the Championship this term.

It was clear that the 30-year-old needed regular game time, and he's found that at Charlton, starting the last nine league games for Nathan Jones, which are just two starts fewer than he managed in the 18 months he spent at St Andrew's.

At the Valley, he's been able to showcase his scoring prowess, with a couple of goals in the few months he's spent at the club, and he may find himself even more eager to prove it against his former club this Saturday.

Birmingham have never lost three straight league games under Chris Davies, but Dykes and co can ensure that happens this weekend.