Birmingham City manager Chris Davies has opened up on the uncertain futures of midfielder Marc Leonard and striker Lyndon Dykes, admitting both players are frustrated by a lack of game time.
Midfielder and striker omitted from squad
The pair were both left out of the Blues' matchday squad for last weekend's Championship victory over Coventry City. Their absence has intensified speculation about potential departures during the January transfer window.
Davies confirmed that ongoing discussions are taking place. "We've been talking a lot to the players and their agents," the manager stated. "They haven't had as much game time as they would like, which is fair. We'll see how it all develops and things will become clearer as the weeks go by with them."
Struggles for minutes at St Andrew's
Leonard, the 24-year-old midfielder Birmingham fought hard to sign 18 months ago, has found it difficult to break up the established partnership of Paik Seung-ho and Tommy Doyle. As a result, he has started just five Championship games this season.
Scotland international Lyndon Dykes has been restricted to only 422 minutes of league football. His situation was always likely to come to a head this month, with the striker keen to secure regular football to impress national team boss Steve Clarke ahead of the World Cup. Dykes almost joined Hibernian at the end of the summer window.
A busy January of ins and outs expected
Davies indicated that the club is preparing for significant activity this month as they aim to bolster their push for a top-six finish. Birmingham have already completed four deals, bringing in Kai Wagner while seeing Eiran Cashin, Dion Sanderson, and Emil Hansson depart.
"At the moment we have got a lot of moving parts around players potentially coming in and players potentially going out," Davies explained regarding the squad selection against Coventry. He added that the impact of new signing Wagner is the template for further business.
"I think it will be busy," Davies said of the window. "I had the feeling it would be a bit like this leading up to it. Last season it was two or three in, two or three out, it was pretty low-key. I think this one will be a busy one, definitely."
It remains to be seen whether Leonard or Dykes will be involved in Birmingham's upcoming FA Cup third-round tie against Cambridge United as their futures hang in the balance.
