Birmingham City confirm injury blow ahead of Championship fixture vs Sheffield United
Birmingham City will be without former Sheffield Wednesday loanee James Beadle when they visit Bramall Lane next weekend.
Birmingham City manager Chris Davies has confirmed he will be without goalkeeper James Beadle for next Saturday’s trip to Bramall Lane to face Sheffield United.
The Blues, who will travel to South Yorkshire without a win in their last three games, are set to be without the Brighton & Hove Albion loanee for “two or three games” because of an ankle injury, meaning he will be denied a return to the Steel City.
Beadle is no stranger to Sheffield after enjoying two loan spells with Wednesday not all that long ago. After spending the second half of the 2023/24 campaign at Hillsborough, the England Under-21 international spent the entirety of last season in S6.
Signed by Birmingham on a season-long loan deal in July, the 21-year-old, who was absent for Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Charlton Athletic at St Andrew’s, has made 12 Championship appearances so far this season, keeping three clean sheets. He initially started the season on the bench, watching experienced shot-stopper Ryan Allsop start between the posts.
Although Blues boss Davies is optimistic Beadle will not be sidelined for long, he will definitely miss the upcoming trip to Bramall Lane.
Davies issues Beadle update
“James Beadle has an ankle injury,” Davies, as quoted by Birmingham Live, revealed. “He picked it up within the game against QPR but continued.
“We don’t know the exact (length). It’s not a long one from my understanding but I think there’s liaisons with Brighton being his parent club. We need to link up with them and work on a plan together.
“My understanding is that it’s not a long-term injury, it’s two or three games I think, but we need to get more confirmation next week about that.”
Birmingham, who are winless in their last three league meetings with the Blades, will make the trip to S2 next weekend with the ambition of correcting their away form after losing four of their last five games on their travels.
They have won just eight points on the road this season, meaning Chris Wilder’s side will hope to take advantage of that in their hopes of getting back on track after Friday night’s 2-0 defeat to West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns.