With promotion and League One title glory well within their grasp, Birmingham City have now reportedly turned their focus towards securing a bargain deal to sign a defensive addition this summer.
Birmingham strolling towards promotion
With games in hand on second place Wrexham, Birmingham sit clear at the top of League One and look unlikely to ease their hold on the top of the tree anytime soon. With just a handful of games left to play, the Blues are also on course to secure early promotion above third place Wycombe and could even seal their Championship spot as early as April 18 when they square off against the struggling Crawley Town.
Left delighted with his side’s most recent victory against Barnsley, watching on as they soared to a 6-2 win, manager Chris Davies told reporters: “It was a big three points. To score six goals at home and win 6-2 is a wonderful day for us.
“I thought were good throughout, we had to be patient when they went down to ten men but to score six in front of the home fans is brilliant. Against ten men, it’s a mental game. You can think it’s going to be easy, but it doesn’t work like that.
“To get a sucker punch after we score, with a long throw, that frustration can build so it was really important for me at half-time that I calmed the players down and made them see the game quite clearly and what we needed to do, the positions we needed to get into and how to attack them relentlessly. If we did that, we would score the goals to win the match and we did.”
That victory only strengthened their stride towards promotion and securing an early place should only benefit Birmingham as they go in pursuit of one particular summer bargain.
Birmingham plotting bargain Harry Darling deal
According ton Wales Online, Birmingham are now plotting a move to sign Harry Darling on a free deal once his current contract comes to an end at Swansea City this summer. The defender does reportedly have an offer on the table from the Championship side but is yet to put pen to paper on an extension – opening the door for his exit in the coming months.
That said, the Blues aren’t the only side reportedly interested, with Premier League hopefuls Sheffield United also linked to the Swansea contract rebel as the summer transfer window approaches.
The interest in the 25-year-old centre-back should come as no surprise either. Former Swansea manager Luke Williams is just one of few to praise Darling in recent months, telling reporters following a hard-fought draw against West Bromwich Albion in January: “Harry was outstanding, and it is impossible to question his commitment to the football club because that an heroic performance from him.
“He is fantastic at defending the goal, competing for everything with the opposition. But he also had plenty of brilliant actions in helping us to build-up to try and score. He was brilliant, he’s an excellent player.”