Birmingham City have wrapped up their final pre-season training session in Lagos, Portugal, ahead of Friday's friendly against Huddersfield Town. Manager Chris Davies led a one-hour session starting at 11am sharp on Thursday, with the vast majority of his squad available.
Absentees and Injury Updates
Marvin Ducksch was the most notable absentee, with Davies revealing to BirminghamLive that the German striker has been sent home for treatment on an injury. Ethan Laird is also nursing an injury back home. New signing Dael Fry and talisman Jay Stansfield did not take part in the full session due to being a week behind their teammates in training; both are expected to sit out Friday's friendly.
To make up numbers, Davies drafted in youngsters Will O'Sullivan, Billy Burrell, Riquelme Thompson-Jones, and Briar Bateman. Defender Jack Quirk and forward Alezandro Da Silva are expected to link up with the first team before the Huddersfield match.
Light Session Focused on Details
Matchday minus one is always the lightest session of the week, and Blues players didn't work up too much of a sweat in the Algarve sunshine. The session was all about details, and Blues are not in the business of letting prying eyes in on their secrets. An unauthorized onlooker was politely asked to leave the training pitches by security midway through the session. Fear not, we don't have another 'Spygate' on our hands; it was just an intrigued local.
After a series of rondos overseen by Davies and his coaching staff – Ben Petty, Tom Huddlestone, and Jonathan Grounds – the Blues boss split his players into two groups. One group followed him to the pitch nearest to us, while the others were sent to the far pitch to work on set pieces under specialist new coach Scott Fry.
Set Piece Chaos Under Scott Fry
Davies worked on Blues' shape out of possession with demonstrations on how they plan to press Huddersfield's backline at the Estadio da Nora. Things were more manic on the far side – and for good reason. Fry has been hired to improve Blues' output on set pieces and is being given licence and freedom to get on with his job by Davies.
The former Lincoln City and Rangers supremo was hands-on with the group, constantly showing them what he wanted and unafraid to make himself heard. When Demarai Gray whipped in an inswinger from the left, Fry clearly enjoyed the runs being made into the box by the attackers. 'Absolute chaos,' said Fry. That is what Blues are going to need to create for opposition goalkeepers and defenders if they are to better their set piece tally in next season's Championship.
Post-Session Work and Pre-Season Perspective
The session was wrapped up by 12pm, and the players made their way inside for an afternoon gym session and recovery ahead of the showdown with the Terriers. As ever, Japanese trio Tomoki Iwata, Kanya Fujimoto, and Kyogo Furuhashi were the last to leave the training pitches. They have made a habit of staying out after their teammates to work on shooting – albeit Iwata seemed to be the only one taking shots.
Davies will hope the fruits of their labour are on full display on Friday morning, but early pre-season friendlies aren't the be all and end all. Two years ago, Blues were thumped 5-0 by SC Paderborn 07 in Davies' first game in charge before going on to win the League One title at a canter, whereas last year they dismantled La Liga outfit Sevilla 3-1 to raise expectations before a serious ball was kicked. Whatever happens on Friday morning in Albufeira is largely irrelevant; more important this week is what Davies and his players have worked on in Lagos.
