Birmingham City have complex transfer need as Ayumu Yokoyama proves Chris Davies right

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Birmingham City edged their way into the fourth round of the FA Cup with a 2-1 victory over League One rivals Lincoln City.

Ayumu Yokoyama and Lyndon Dykes scored either side of half-time to clinch Blues’ spot in the next round. Jovon Makama reduced the deficit from the penalty spot late on but Blues held on.

Chris Davies was able to rest several key players for the cup clash at St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park after the gruelling festive period. Blues are back in cup action on Tuesday when they take on Swindon Town in Vertu Trophy.

Here are our talking points from Blues’ win over Lincoln…

Yokoyama shows both sides

A matter of seconds had been played at St Andrew’s when Yokoyama showed poise to step inside his marker and precision to pick his spot between Zach Jeacock’s legs. In the space of a minute, Yokoyama showed his enormous potential.

However, the rest of Yokoyama’s 90 minutes served as a reminder as to why Davies has been reluctant to select him for a league match. Yokoyama ran down blind alleys too often and on the occasion that he did break free of Tendayi Darikwa, the Japanese winger clumsily shinned the ball behind for a goal-kick.

The 21-year-old has bags of raw talent and an air of unpredictability that makes him exciting to those of us watching from the stands. But he still needs a lot of finetuning.

Dykes leading the way in the cup

Scotland international Dykes has found the going tough in League One and still awaits his first goal in that particular competition. In fact, Dykes has scored more goals in the Championship (1) this season than he has in League One (0).

The cups have offered Dykes some light relief. Dykes has netted in each of his three cup outings for Blues and the strike that settled Saturday’s contest will take some beating for the Goal of the Season award at the club’s end-of-season bash.

Whilst Yokoyama did little to prove Davies wrong, Dykes improved his chances of another league start. The Scot showed he can be a viable option in the number 10 position too.

A well-earned rest for some

Ben Davies, Tomoki Iwata and Alfie May weren’t needed and Paik Seung-ho and Willum Willumsson only played 20 minutes against Lincoln. Davies relied on his fringe players and they delivered a professional performance to progress to the fourth round.

It was no surprise to see Blues’ performance levels dip after half-time with many of those in the XI limited on match fitness.

Davies commented: “I’ve not only changed seven players, some haven’t played a lot, I’m playing players in slightly different positions to what they’re used to to find that right balance between rotation and giving us enough on the pitch to get the results we want. I think there was an element of fatigue there, definitely.”

A complex transfer need

The most newsworthy line from Davies’ post-match press conference was that Blues will look to replace Dion Sanderson during this transfer window. Blues have allowed Sanderson to join Championship side Blackburn Rovers on loan for the remainder of the season, leaving Davies with just three central defenders.

It’s a more complex situation than meets the eye, though. Phil Neumann is expected to join Blues in the summer when his contract at Hannover 96 expires but, as things stand, there is nothing in place for him to move to England this month.

Blues could accelerate the deal by signing Neumann now and bed him in during the second half of the season, therefore satisfying Davies’ desire for a fourth centre-back.

If they wait until the summer then a short-term solution is required and anyone coming in will likely have to accept the role of fourth choice and limited football. That is by no means an easy sell, even when you’re top of the league and still in two cups.

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