For as much as Jay Stansfield stole most of the headlines with his goalscoring heroics, Birmingham City’s title-winning triumph in League One last season was based on an extremely tough-to-pass defence.
The Blues only shipped 31 goals across the duration of their very successful 46-game campaign, away from Stansfield chipping in with 19 league strikes to contribute to Chris Davies’ men bagging a mammoth 84 goals.
An unsung hero at the back that went somewhat under the radar was loan titan Ben Davies, with the now ex-Birmingham number 25 instantly fitting into his new surroundings to live up to his EFL veteran status.
Davies’ standout loan spell at Birmingham
Before returning to the EFL with the Blues, Davies had already notched up many an appearance all across the Championship, League One, and League Two.
In total, the formidable 29-year-old has now tallied up 281 appearances up and down the various challenging leagues, with his spell at Birmingham perhaps his most memorable stint to date.
He would go on to form an intimidating partnership with Christoph Klarer at the very heart of the Blues defence, leading to the imposing pair collecting a combined 38 clean sheets in league action.
Offering up a goal and assist across his impressive 35 league games too, it wasn’t a great shock to see reports linking Birmingham with a permanent move for the former Liverpool defender when the season was over and done with.
But, all that talk has now seemingly hushed now, with his new Gers boss in Russell Martin perhaps fancying giving him more concrete chances at Ibrox moving forward.
This could mean Birmingham have to seek out alternative targets.
Birmingham’s Davies alternative
After all, as Birmingham rises the divisions, the more out there and ambitious their signings can be.
A report from this month saw them linked with a move for Premier League regular Craig Dawson, with football journalist Alan Nixon reporting that both Wrexham and Derby County are also locked into a battle to land the vastly experienced 35-year-old.
Whilst Dawson has seen his game-time severely deplete under Vitor Pereira’s Wolverhampton Wanderers reign, it’s very clear that the soon-to-be free agent would still be a rock-solid option for Wolves’ near neighbours in Birmingham.
A fierce competitor, he notably won 4.4 duels per game during the 2023/24 season in the Premier League when handed 25 top-flight outings.
Moreover, away from his colossal collection of 303 Premier League appearances impressing those looking in, the ex-West Ham United centre-back also possesses quite the reputation for being a fierce defensive body in the EFL, much like Davies.
|
Dawson’s league numbers for West Brom (18/19) |
|
|---|---|
|
Stat (* = per game) |
Dawson |
|
Games played |
41 |
|
Goals scored |
2 |
|
Assists |
3 |
|
Touches* |
62.3 |
|
Accurate passes* |
39.7 (80%) |
|
Big chances created |
6 |
|
Total duels won* |
6.6 |
|
Clean sheets |
8 |
|
Stats by Sofascore |
|
His last season at the daunting level saw him battle away valiantly for another of Birmingham’s cross-city rivals in West Brom, winning a hefty 6.6 duels per match across his 41 league appearances while successfully completing 80% of his passes.
To add context, Davies fell just short of Dawson’s mighty duels won count last season when amassing 6.3 on average, with his average when last competing in the Championship coming in at a lesser 4.4 too.
Lauded as “outstanding” when still on the books of the Hammers by football journalist Matt Law, any move for Davies falling through would be instantly forgotten about if the newly promoted outfit were able to win the dependable 35-year-old.
With the bonus of 25 goals next to his name too during his EFL playing days, Dawson might well be a statement addition that allows Birmingham to compete up a division and even dream of a Premier League stay in the near future.
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