The 9 players set to miss Birmingham City v Charlton Athletic ft £13.5k-p/w star | OneFootball

FLW looks at the players who are set to miss out on Saturday's clash at St. Andrew's

With the Championship in the thick of its latest three-game week, Birmingham City and Charlton Athletic have the ideal opportunity to address their recent shortcomings on Saturday afternoon at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park.

Blues' form in B9 under Chris Davies has been nothing short of stellar, with Hull City being the only side since April 2024 to leave this part of Birmingham with all three points, and they will hope to make it five successive home wins in response to two below-par away performances and results against Southampton and Queens Park Rangers.

Charlton, who were promoted alongside Blues, have been in a dire run of recent form, as they are winless since a 1-0 success over West Bromwich Albion on November 4th, with a midweek defeat to high-flying Middlesbrough at The Valley making it five losses on the spin for Nathan Jones' side.

As such, both sides will be targeting three crucial points to help achieve their respective short and long-term aims, although the two fixtures in League One last term point towards a potential narrow contest as they ended up 1-0 to the home side in the West Midlands and South London.

There are, of course, key men on both sides capable of swinging the pendulum for Davies or Jones. However, nine players from the respective squads are set to miss out, and Football League World has looked at each of their individual situations.

Ethan Laird

The first of three absentees for Birmingham is right-back, Ethan Laird.

The defender, who is estimated to earn a weekly wage of £13,500 by Capology, has been sidelined for just short of three months after sustaining a hamstring issue against Coventry City on September 27th, and it was recently confirmed by Davies that he will remain out of action until at least February.

“Ethan is well behind. It’s February I think where he’s due to be back at that point of joining the team again," he said.

Lee Buchanan

One of the two players Laird is "behind" in terms of a return to fitness is Lee Buchanan, who suffered a serious knee injury against Blackpool 12 months ago.

The former Werder Bremen man's time in B9 has been plagued by injuries, although he has recently stepped up his recovery programme.

Regardless of that being said, Football League World exclusively revealed that Birmingham plan to loan out the 24-year-old in January so he is able to source vital first-team minutes and regain his match sharpness.

Scott Wright

Scott Wright is the final absentee for Blues, although the Scottish winger is also nearing a return to fitness.

The 28-year-old has been injured since sustaining the second ACL blow of his career against Reading at the Select Car Leasing Stadium, and like Buchanan, was omitted from the club's 25-man squad for the opening period of the current campaign.

“Scott is a bit ahead of Lee. Scott is going to be very light training with the team again in the next few weeks, which is really great news," Davies said in late November.

Reece Burke

Reece Burke has been sidelined since being substituted at half-time against Swansea City on November 1st with a foot issue, one which he is still yet to fully recover from.

However, there was some form of positive news regarding the versatile defender, with Jones stating ahead of Tuesday's loss against Middlesbrough that Burke is "close" to a return.

Amari'i Bell

Amari'i Bell has been plagued with two separate hamstring issues since reuniting with Jones in South London in the summer.

The first of those also came against Swansea City, before he made an extremely short return to action in the 3-1 defeat at Coventry on November 29th, being forced off at the half-hour mark with yet another hamstring problem, although Jones has since revealed that the second of those blows "isn’t as bad as we first thought."

Josh Edwards

It has been a major blow for Jones that fellow left-back, Josh Edwards, has been sidelined since late September after undergoing surgery on an ankle issue.

The Scot had started seven successive games beforehand, but remains a long-term absentee for the Addicks.

Onel Hernandez

The latest injury blow for Jones is that of Cuban midfielder and former Blues loanee, Onel Hernandez.

Hernandez missed Tuesday's game with a hamstring issue and is now expected to be out for the immediate future, as per a recent update from the Addicks boss.

"It’s not days, it's weeks," said Jones in his pre-match press conference. "It’s unfortunate, the situation was that we had to gamble in the free agent market and sometimes that's difficult because the Championship is relentless."

Charlie Kelman

Charlie Kelman was a high-profile £5m signing for Charlton from Queens Park Rangers this summer. But, his stint at The Valley is yet to get going, and that is somewhat down to a current hamstring issue that has seen him miss the past six encounters.

Once again, though, Jones stated that he is "close" to returning to training.

Matty Godden

St. Andrew's is a place Matty Godden knows well from a period at Coventry City when the Sky Blues ground shared with Birmingham. However, the man who netted the winner against Blues at The Valley last October is also absent for Saturday's clash.

The 34-year-old is yet to feature for the Addicks this season after undergoing knee surgery after their play-off final success against Leyton Orient.

Jones recently provided an update on the experienced forward, who has suffered setbacks throughout his recovery programme.

"He will likely start training at the end of December and will hopefully be back at some point in January," the Charlton boss predicted.