Birmingham boss addresses Krystian Bielik situation amid Stoke City transfer whisper
Birmingham City boss Chris Davies gave the impression that Krystian Bielik wasn't a player that was leaving any time soon as he addressed his return to the squad.
Captain Bielik hasn't started a game since New Year's Day because of injury and there have been links with January interest from Stoke City - but the 27-year-old, who can play at centre-half or in central midfield, has been eased back into action over the last 10 days and Davies insists he will be "an important player going forward".
Davies has a stable of four centre-halves - Bielik, Ben Davies, Christoph Klarer and Grant Hanley - and isn't expected to sanction any reduction in numbers in that department as he tries to seal promotion back to the Championship. Dion Sanderson was allowed to leave for game time at Blackburn Rovers as he brought in Hanley.
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He said in an interview for Birmingham's club website: "He's going well. Like a few of them, they've had injuries, a couple of weeks out, and then we're bringing them back into games before they've had much training so they're almost getting fit through playing the games. He's had a cameo role against Exeter then he's had another short period against Wrexham. He's building up but he hasn't had the training that is sometimes necessary. But he's fit and available and ready to go and he's going to be an important player for us going forward."
Stoke are hoping to bolster central midfield without necessarily dipping into the transfer market in that area as Ben Pearson and Bosun Lawal return to fitness. Pearson hasn't played for 10 months due to hamstring injuries while Lawal has needed time after a back injury was diagnosed when he signed from Celtic last summer. They came through 45 minutes and an hour respectively as Stoke under-21s beat Reading last night. Sol Sidibe is out with a back problem and Jordan Thompson is recovering from groin surgery, however.
Mark Robins has been using Wouter Burger, Lewis Baker - who was recalled from a loan at Blackburn, Tatsuki Seko and Andrew Moran in central midfield.
Ben Gibson is returning to fitness at centre-half, where Ben Wilmot is missing due to a foot injury but Michael Rose was praised when he stood in alongside Ashley Phillips at the weekend. Lawal can also play in that role while England youth defender Jaden Dixon is highly rated.
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