Jay Stansfield has expressed gratitude to Birmingham City manager Chris Davies for maintaining confidence in him during a challenging season, after the striker ended a 13-game goal drought with a goal in Wednesday's victory over Preston North End.
The 23-year-old forward, who has netted 11 goals across all competitions this campaign along with seven assists, acknowledged that his season has been a mix of highs and lows. Speaking to BBC WM, Stansfield said: "This season has been up and down for me. I had a long summer with the Euros but I wanted to be back as soon as possible to help the team."
Stansfield's involvement in England Under-21s' successful European Championship campaign last summer meant he played a total of 52 games in the 2024/25 season, with minimal break. He featured in Blues' first pre-season friendly against Sevilla and has since made 45 appearances this term, including 39 starts in the Championship. Only Tomoki Iwata and Christoph Klarer have been used more frequently by Davies.
"It's been a long season for me personally and I've not scored the goals I wanted to score, but I've made sure I've gone out when times have been tough and stuck my chest out and got on with it," Stansfield added. "I can't thank the manager enough for still having faith in me being able to deliver in different ways. A goal fell for me and hopefully I can get a few more."
The striker's point about last summer is often overlooked. Due to his European Championship exploits, Stansfield had a truncated off-season and has been a near-constant presence in the team. He will now get a well-earned rest before pre-season begins for the new campaign.
Reflecting on Birmingham City's season, Stansfield noted: "Other teams that get promoted from League One to the Championship would settle for staying in the Championship. There's obviously a lot of ambition. We wanted to get promoted but we're moving in the right direction and we can go again next season. This season has been a good learning curve and we all know how to play the Championship now."
