Birmingham City have invested heavily in two young strikers with the hope they can form a long-term partnership
06:00, 03 Apr 2026
Birmingham City striker August Priske had a goal chalked off against West Bromwich Albion
Chris Davies has sorted his Birmingham City players into three groups.
Established performers from whom he knows what to expect, new arrivals who need to ‘make their stamp’ and those who ‘need to prove they still can be here’.
Sifting them into the relevant buckets would be an interesting debate but at the top end of the pitch – where it matters most – there will be little discussion about Jay Stansfield and August Priske.
By anyone’s measure Stansfield surely falls into the first category. A £15million signing nearly two years ago, at just 23-years-old he is a player who already has 131 appearances and 46 goals under his belt.
He’s had a bit of a lean time in the last couple of months but perhaps like no-one else in Davies’ squad Stansfield gets the club and has performed for it. Don’t so much pencil his name in for next season as chisel it.
By contrast Priske is very much the definition of a recent acquisition who is finding his way in Championship football. In his first 11 games we have seen both why Blues were willing to invest a reported £6m in a raw striker from overseas – and why he’s in the Championship and not the Premier League.
Priske needs to put his stamp on the league in the same way the likes of Jake Cooper and Lloyd Jones put their stamps on him.
While questions remain about Stansfield’s optimal position, No. 9, second striker, left-sided No. 10, left wing to name but a few suggestions, there is no such ambiguity about centre-forward Priske.
On that basis then, the final seven games would seem a golden opportunity to see them paired together. Blues’ two big striking investments given time to dovetail and Priske a chance to figure out the league, the team and potentially his long-term partner.
Stansfield alongside or just behind Priske feels like a natural evolution and one Davies is considering.
“In the very short-term I’ve got to weigh up their readiness and the minutes that they can play. August has been a long-term signing – Jay also, but he’s been here a few years,” the manager said.
“It has been an adaptation for August but there’s definitely scope for those two to play together. They’ve done it twice, against Leeds it went quite well, against Millwall it didn’t go quite so well.
“There’s definitely scope for them to play together at some point.
“Like August, we’ve got a big interest in developing those players because they’re ours. They’re definitely things we’re thinking about.
“I’m hoping now August has got over his illness and he can make an impact in the last few games.”
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That might explain why the Dane has been relatively little used in recent weeks. While Marvin Ducksch divides opinion, Stansfield searches for his best and Kyogo Furuhashi remains a failed experiment, Priske has tended to be cast in the role of New Jutkiewicz.
He was summoned off the bench against Sheffield United and Derby County as a Plan B and as little more than someone to aim high balls at. Davies has to find a better way of tapping into his potential.
The 22-year-old, who is yet to score for Blues, bagged for Denmark Under-21s in the week, a clinical, near-post, sliding finish applied to a low left-wing cross.
It did not escape Davies’ notice: “He’s got some competition for that spot with the Danish U21s because they’ve got a couple of good strikers actually, but he was on for ten minutes and got a goal.
“He’s hardly trained or anything like that, so it’s good for him to get some training in and minutes on the pitch. We’ve got two games in three or four days so we’re going to need the squad this weekend, absolutely.
“He’s a player that thrives on crosses because of his size. We need to get people around him.
“In the Charlton game he was on his own, very isolated, we need to make sure we’ve got people around him that he can combine with, and that can slide him in, or play crosses.
“We haven’t got the best out of him yet. He’s still getting going and in these next seven games he’s definitely going to get some opportunities.”
If Stansfield can end his barren run and Priske can get off the mark to see out the season, an inconsistent campaign can at least end with the promise of better to come – both from the team and from two strikers who have been brought to St Andrew’s to score the goals to take the club into the Premier League.
