Birmingham City boss Tony Mowbray has revealed a couple of fresh injury blows for his side.
Birmingham City hosted Hull City in the FA Cup last night, and Blues came back from a goal behind to hand Mowbray his first win as manager.
Second half goals from Jay Stansfield and Koji Miyoshi secured the win in what was Mowbray’s second game in charge.
The Blues boss fielded a strong XI, with a couple of changes; Oliver Burke came into the XI along with Romelle Donovan and Keshi Anderson, whilst Krystian Bielik was deployed at centre-back.
Birmingham City dealt Neil Etheridge and Lukas Jutkiewicz injury blows
First-team duo Neil Etheridge and Lukas Jutkiewicz were expected to start last night, in a bid to give some of the more regular players a rest.
But neither featured, and Mowbray revealed after the game that both are carrying injuries.
“Etheridge and Lukas are injured,” he said. “Both had scans and both are going to miss a couple of weeks. I think Juke’s is definitely his calf – he’s going to miss two or three weeks.
“Etheridge got injured yesterday [Monday]. I’m guessing it’s a hamstring but it might be a calf.”
Defender Emanuel Aiwu was also absent for Birmingham City, but Mowbray said that the Austrian was ill, adding:
“Now, Aiwu’s actually ill. He had a doctor send him home because he was coughing up a lot of mucus. He’s at home ill. So, nothing sinister in there other than a couple of injuries and some illness.”
Injuries piling up, but Mowbray knows what he’s doing
Etheridge and Jutkiewicz now joins the likes of Ethan Laird, Marc Roberts, George Hall, and Alfie Chang on the sidelines.
Birmingham City have had a lengthy injury list since the start of last season it seems, and it’s not showing any signs of letting up.
But Mowbray has been here before.
At Sunderland last season and at the start of this season, his injury list was a lengthy one, yet the 60-year-old consistently found ways around it.
It might mean playing players out of position or changing the system slightly, but Mowbray always found a way to keep his Sunderland side competitive, and that’s exactly what he did with Blues last night.
There’s immediate signs of the players being more confident and more determined under the new boss.
Last night’s win will hopefully build some much-needed momentum as Birmingham City return to league action with a trip to Stoke City this weekend.