Chris Davies drops team selection hint and gives Lee Myung-jae verdict before Lincoln
Lee Myung-jae is among the Birmingham City players hoping for a chance during the hectic run-in
Chris Davies is contemplating changes to his Birmingham City side for this weekend’s clash with Lincoln City after conceding that some players appeared jaded during the defeat to Bolton Wanderers.
Bolton inflicted only a fifth defeat of a season that has already spanned 46 games on League One leaders Blues.
A spate of injuries to key players finally caught up with Blues and Bolton bounced back from Emil Hansson’s opener at the Toughsheet Community Stadium to record a 3-1 win.
Blues have shown their own bouncebackability to record victories after each of their previous four defeats and are aiming to beat Lincoln for the third time this season having won at Sincil Bank in October and edged an FA Cup third round clash in January.
Supporters attending the match at St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park will be wondering whether Davies – a manager who isn’t overly keen on rotation – will make multiple changes to freshen things up.
Christoph Klarer, Ben Davies, Alex Cochrane, Tomoki Iwata and Paik Seung-ho haven’t had many rests since the last international break in November. Meanwhile, Kieran Dowell has started more games in six weeks at Blues than he managed in 18 months at parent club Rangers.
“It’s a case of seeing how they are,” said Davies. “Towards the end of the game at Bolton their energy levels were up and some of that was to do with the scoreline, and to do with the fact they were up in the game.
“I will have to look at it. We have got a squad. With a few injuries and bits and bobs, we can’t change 10 players, but we can definitely give others an opportunity and try to rotate.
“At the same time, each game is another cup final for us. It’s a big game, each one now, so we can’t overdo it. It’s a fine balance and I have to try and get that right.”
One player in contention to come in is South Korean left-back Lee Myung-jae. The 31-year-old hasn’t appeared in a squad since joining Blues as cover for Cochrane at the end of the January transfer window.
Lee recently played for the under-21s to build up his fitness and is clearly creeping onto Davies’ radar.
“He hadn’t played a lot of football over the Christmas period so it’s about building him back up again,” Davies explained. “He’s training hard, working well, and you can see he’s really connected with how we train and play. He’s in a good position now to push on.”