Birmingham City concluded their Portugal training camp with a 3-1 friendly victory over Huddersfield Town, providing several key insights for manager Chris Davies. Kyogo Furuhashi scored a late brace after Demarai Gray opened the scoring, with Davies fielding a different XI in each half at the Estadio de Nora.
Kyogo's Bright Start Must Continue
Davies acknowledged that Kyogo would dominate headlines after his well-taken double. The striker was physically sharp and made numerous runs, with Kanya Fujimoto providing the assists for both goals. Kyogo had a goal ruled out for offside shortly after half-time, and his confidence grew visibly after the first goal. Supporters may wonder how much his long-standing shoulder injury affected him before corrective surgery earlier this year; now uninhibited, Kyogo aims to recapture the form that prompted Blues to sign him last summer. To convince Davies he can be a viable alternative to the August Priske profile, Kyogo must excel in pre-season.
Three Quality Centre-Backs
The acquisition of Dael Fry has added significant quality to a back-line that was already among the Championship's best last season, with Blues recording the fifth-best goals conceded column. Fry is regarded as one of the league's top central defenders; Middlesbrough conceded only 15 league goals when he was on the pitch last season across 29 Championship matches. While the signing casts doubt on Phil Neumann's starting place, the club's internal data indicates that a Championship team needs three 'first choice' centre-backs. Analysis shows that the third centre-back at most Championship clubs typically plays over 50 percent of the minutes across the 46-game season. Ipswich Town exemplified this: captain Dara O'Shea played the most minutes, with Cedric Kipre and Jacob Greaves each exceeding 2,000 minutes. Blues aim to avoid the significant drop-off experienced last season when Christoph Klarer and Neumann were not paired together. Klarer and Neumann performed well with different partners against Huddersfield, and Fry is expected to feature in the upcoming friendly at Solihull Moors.
Buchanan Will Give Davies a Decision to Make
Lee Buchanan's long-awaited return after more than 18 months out due to injury presents Davies with a selection dilemma at left-back. Buchanan played 45 minutes against Huddersfield, showing assured possession and defensive solidity, including a precise cross-field pass. Time and fitness concerns may work against Buchanan in his bid to displace Kai Wagner or Alex Cochrane, but Davies was impressed. "I'm really happy with Lee," Davies said. "He has been through so much in the last two years since I've been here. He's probably not managed blocks of training, let alone games. To see him get through these two weeks like he has, look strong in training, and then deliver that performance is really encouraging. Lee is a good player. He's got real character, a nice left foot, he's strong. I think Lee Buchanan is a really good player. We've just got to help him stay fit."
One to Watch: Riquelme Thompson-Jones
Knighthead has focused on improving the academy, with the recruitment of Scott Sellars as under-21s chief and former player Darren Carter to oversee loans. Blues have not had an academy graduate make a league debut in over two years; Romelle Donovan, now at Sheffield United, was the last. Davies took four youngsters to Portugal: goalkeeper Will O'Sullivan, Riquelme Thompson-Jones, Billy Burrell, and Briar Bateman, with defender Jack Quirk and forward Alezandro Da Silva providing cover for the friendly. Thompson-Jones, who spent much of last season injured but still earned his first professional contract, has been with the first team since pre-season due to Ethan Laird's injury. He impressed in a 45-minute outing against Huddersfield, displaying athleticism, passing ability, and game understanding. Davies noted: "He's really impressed me. He's obviously got to grow physically with it, but he's a midfielder who we've slotted in at right-back due to injuries and everything else. I thought he did the role really well. Pat Roberts was rolling inside and leaving the space so he had decisions to make and then I was asking him to sometimes drop to be closer to Phil, so he had to execute something tactically there and I thought he did it really well. That's why I like midfield players. Usually they have quite a good football brain so if they do go to right-back they understand the pictures. With that lad, every time he's trained with us I've thought, yeah, he's got a good understanding of the game, technically he's good, if we can work on his growth physically then he will progress to have enough pace I think. We've got to keep bulking him up and working on his game. He will grow a lot from this week. There's so much information that he's got. Of course he's a young player that we don't think is going to challenge our first team, but he's definitely grown this week."
