Birmingham City are embarking on a crucial training period during the final international break of 2025, with a welcome fitness boost for midfielder Willum Willumsson.
Who's In and Who's Out for Blues
The third international break of the 2025/26 campaign sees five Birmingham City players representing their countries. James Beadle, Bright Osayi-Samuel, Lyndon Dykes, Lewis Koumas, and Demarai Gray have all departed for national team duty over the next ten days.
Notably absent from the international scene is Paik Seung-ho, who was scheduled to join South Korea. Instead, the player is remaining at the club's Henley-in-Arden base to receive treatment for a shoulder injury.
Manager Chris Davies has granted time off to the players not involved internationally, with serious training set to resume ahead of the Championship clash with Norwich City on November 22.
A Welcome Return and Key Training Focus
Excluding the injured quartet of Paik, Ethan Laird, Lee Buchanan, and Scott Wright, Davies will still have a solid group of 18 senior players, including two goalkeepers, Ryan Allsop and Brad Mayo, to work with.
This break provides a vital window to build the match fitness of Marvin Ducksch and, most encouragingly, Willum Willumsson, who is now injury-free. The Icelandic international has returned to light training and could be in contention for a squad place after the break.
"Hopefully, over the international break there can be more of those sessions and he can slowly start to build," Davies commented on Willumsson. "It’s been a while so therefore it’s going to take him a while to get up to speed again. He’s not injured as such, it’s just a case of building his training now."
Blues have sorely missed Willumsson's craft and guile in the number 10 position over the past two months. He offers a different skillset to other options and adds a physically imposing presence to the squad.
Fine-Tuning for the Season-Defining Run-In
These two weeks also represent a critical opportunity for Davies to address key issues. A primary focus will be on ending Kyogo Furuhashi's confidence crisis in front of goal. The Japanese striker has so far failed to score in the Championship, having missed nine big chances.
Rediscovering his scoring touch could make an enormous difference for Blues. With the Championship table incredibly tight—only six points separate third and 14th place—the quest for marginal gains is paramount.
The team is about to enter a four-month flurry of fixtures that will undoubtedly define their season, making every session and every returning player during this break all the more significant.