Birmingham City

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Former Blues captain Ian Clarkson believes "something needs to change" at Birmingham City following their crushing 6-1 defeat to Premier League side Brentford in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday.

Birmingham enjoyed a fruitful pre-season but have drawn both of their opening two league games in addition to the cup loss to the Bees.

They next play away to Wrexham in the Championship on Friday (20:00 BST), before welcoming Southampton and West Midlands rivals Wolves over the following week.

"There's been lots of talk [of change] but we aren't really seeing it on the pitch," Clarkson said.

"If we don't see a reaction on Friday, I am really concerned. The signs in the last two games haven't been great.

"Blues need to show a lot more steel defensively. It'll be a different team but it'll need to be a lot better than it was tonight."

Listen to the full reaction below or on BBC Sounds here.

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Birmingham City manager Chris Davies has apologised to Blues fans on the back of Tuesday's 6-1 Carabao Cup exit at home to Brentford.

It was Blues' heaviest defeat since losing by the same 6-1 scoreline at Hull City under then caretaker boss Lee Carsley following Harry Redknapp's departure in September 2017.

And it was the worst at St Andrew's since the club record 8-0 home defeat by Bournemouth in October 2014, another performance under a caretaker boss, Malcolm Crosby, who had taken over in the wake of Lee Clark's departure.

"I can only apologise to the fans that came and spent their money coming to the club to watch their team tonight," Davies told BBC Radio WM. "That's not what any of us want."

Admittedly, they were up against Premier League opposition - but former Wolves and West Bromwich Albion midfielder Keith Andrews had picked a weakened Bees team.

"The gulf was too big," added Davies. "But we didn't do enough."

BBC Radio WM Blues reporter Richard Wilford said last night that this will "increase the pressure" on Davies.

The Blues have made a winless start to the new Championship season, having followed a drab opening-day draw at Sheffield United with a 95th-minute penalty to rescue a point at home to Bristol City on Saturday.

Their only win was in the first round of the Carabao Cup at Swansea - one of only five victories they have enjoyed in 18 matches in a bewilderingly under-par run since February.

Birmingham open their home campaign having lost only three of their past 46 league games at St Andrew's with all those defeats coming on their return to the Championship last season.

Bristol City started life under Michael Skubala with a 2-0 home loss to Millwall and, coupled with their Carabao Cup exit to Walsall, are yet to score this season.

• Birmingham City have won three of their past four home league games against Bristol City (D1), keeping a clean sheet in three of those matches which is as many as they managed across their prior 14 attempts combined.

• Bristol City have lost eight of their past 13 away league games against Birmingham City (W3 D2), losing this exact fixture 2-1 last season at St Andrew's.

• Following a 0-0 draw with Sheffield United on the opening day, Birmingham will be hoping to avoid failing to score in each of their first two league matches of a campaign since 2002-03 – losing 2-0 to Arsenal and 1-0 to Blackburn in the Premier League that season.

• After defeat by Millwall, Bristol City will be hoping to avoid losing their opening two league games of a campaign for just the second time over the past 11 campaigns (lost both in 2022-23).

• Last season in the Championship, only title winners Coventry recorded more shots (397) and more shots on target (130) in their home matches than Birmingham.

Birmingham City have expressed an interest in Spanish club Sporting Gijon's attacking midfielder Cesar Gelabert but they face stiff competition for the 25-year-old from several La Liga and MLS sides. (Marca - in Spanish), external

For more EFL transfer news, read Monday's full gossip column here.

Birmingham City boss Chris Davies spoke to BBC Radio WM after his side's 0-0 draw with Sheffield United. For a written selection of his quotes, click here.

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Sheffield United begin their Championship season with the visit of Birmingham to Bramall Lane on Saturday (17:30 BST).

Both teams began the campaign with a victory, the Blades winning 3-0 at Mansfield in the EFL Cup first round last weekend while Blues prevailed 1-0 at Swansea to reach round two.

Chris Wilder's side have lost five of their past six games on the opening day, including a 4-1 home humbling by Bristol City last season under Ruben Selles, while Chris Davies' men have drawn their past four curtain-raisers, with a 1-1 home draw against Ipswich last season.

• Sheffield United are unbeaten in their past five league games against Birmingham City (W3 D2), having failed to win any of the previous five meetings (D3 L2).

• Birmingham City have won just one of their past eight away league games against Sheffield United (D3 L4), with that victory coming on the opening day of the 2021-22 Championship season under Lee Bowyer (1-0).

• Only Leicester City (32) dropped more points from winning positions in the EFL Championship last season than Sheffield United (29), while the Blades lost five of their final nine matches at Bramall Lane last term (W2 D2).

• Only 20 of Birmingham City's 64 points in the EFL Championship were picked up away from home (31.3%), the lowest proportion in the competition last season.

• In the EFL Championship last season, Sheffield United (11) and Birmingham (11.1) had the two lowest passes per defensive action values, while only Ipswich Town (67) recorded more shot-ending high turnovers than the Blades (59).

Birmingham are keen on Bristol City midfielder Max Bird, 25, who has just a year left on his Ashton Gate contract. (Birmingham Live, external)

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Thursday's gossip column here.

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Kym Smith
Fan writer

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Our previous visit to Swansea City before Saturday's 1-0 win in the EFL Cup was a distinctly unimpressive draw, although I suppose in the context of last season's away form, a point there was an improvement on some of our dire results on the road.

Although we have a reasonable squad, we are still a bit short on attacking options, so Chris Davies ended up putting a not-quite-fit Paik Seung-ho behind August Priske in the starting line-up.

It's not Paik's usual position, and he hasn't had a full pre-season - and it quickly showed that he was off the pace.

Jay Stansfield was again pushed out on the left wing, which isn't his best position either, but Demarai Gray wasn't fit enough to start.

The first quarter of an hour looked very much like a "last season Blues" performance, so it was something of a relief when we started to pick up the pace a bit on the way to a rare away victory.

The long, long absent Lee Buchanan returned to first-team duties as a half-time sub, and it was great to see him again - he suffered a terrible knee injury back in December 2024, and his recovery has been long and (probably) painful.

We also saw a debut for Luis Vazquez, who certainly made his presence felt in the last 20 minutes and looks to be a good addition to the squad.

Priske's goal was the difference between the two teams, and we are in the draw for the second round.

And there are five very important words to sign off with: a win on the road.

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Birmingham City, Wrexham and Southampton have all expressed an interest in signing Canadian Bournemouth striker Daniel Jebbison, 22. (Daily Echo), external

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