Chris Davies press conference: An extra motivation and Birmingham City’s plan for Alfie Chang
Chris Davies has an extra motivation heading into this weekend’s match with Bristol Rovers.
The Birmingham City boss, along with some members of his staff and technical director Craig Gardner, will be braving the cold to sleep out at St Andrew’s with supporters to raise money for the Foundation. This year’s Blue Nose Day is aiming to raise £80,000 to buy a gift for the 11,500 children known to the Birmingham Children’s Trust.
Davies hopes to be toasting three points under the stars rather than reeling over what would be just Blues’ third League One defeat of the campaign. If the latter happens, Davies insists he will be the one to avoid.
READ MORE: Chris Davies says Birmingham City have a new ‘real leader’ and outlines Rangers transfer stance
READ MORE: Chris Davies gives Willum Willumsson fitness update before Birmingham City play Bristol Rovers
“They won’t want to be spending too much time around me if we lose the game! I’m hoping we get the result we want!”
READ: George Friend shares heart-warming Jay Stansfield story and his Birmingham City regret
READ: Blues have a new ‘real leader’ as Chris Davies outlines Rangers transfer stance
On a more serious note, Davies said: “It’s the least I can do. We’re going to get a present for 11,500 children that are in care. It’s not going to be pleasant sleeping out at night but if that can put a smile on a child’s face or make their Christmas better, then I’ll do that all day long.
“Hopefully we can raise as much money as we can. I’m sure it will be an enjoyable evening and an experience everyone can share together. It’s a great thing the football club is doing because that’s the power football clubs have. There are not many things that can generate that level of interest instantly and make that impact on people that need it.”
Bristol Rovers are no great shakes on paper having only won two of their last eight games. They are 18th in the table, 18 points worse off than Blues, but Davies is wary of them turning on the gas.
“They’re a team that are good on their day,” he said. “I’ve watched a lot of them, they’ve got some good experience and some good quality. They can play. They try to be on the front foot from what I’ve seen, they try to press and get after teams as well, so we will have to deal with a bit of that in the game. They can play and if you give them time and space, they can hurt you. As I said to the players, we need to avoid any complacency or distractions.”
Away from Blues’ first team and Davies was pleased to see Alfie Chang make his long-awaited return to the field earlier this week with a cameo for the under-21s. Chang marked his first match in 16 months with a goal.
Blues will tread carefully with Chang until January when a decision will be made on his future. The chances are that his first team opportunities at St Andrew’s will be limited, so a loan move might be in the offing.
Davies commented: “At the moment it’s day by day, week by week, game by game. He got a goal for the under-21s so that’s progress. We will see where we are in January, if we think he needs to go out to get game exposure then we’ll do it. First things first, can we get him up to a level again physically? I think Alfie himself will be on board with that in terms of not wanting to rush anything because he was out for a long time.”
