Aitor faces a tricky run after break

AITOR Karanka admits Birmingham City’s squad will be tested when the Championship resumes after the international break.

The head coach has been able to capitalise on the regularity of only one match a week for the first month of the season. That has enabled Blues to overcome their Carabao Cup defeat to Cambridge with an unbeaten start to the league campaign.

However, the action restarts on Saturday as Blues welcome Garry Monk and Sheffield Wednesday to St Andrew’s in what is the first of seven games in little more than three weeks.

Karanka admits his relatively stable selection process will become far trickier and that those who have not seen much football so far will get their opportunities.

“The main thing is they have to know that everybody is going to be important because it is impossible to achieve something in this league with just 13, 14 or 16 players,” he said.

“It is true now we have done well and I have played more or less with the same team, but from Saturday everything is going to change – all of them are going to be important for us, Saturday-Tuesday, SaturdayTuesday to travel to Norwich, to London, is going to be tough for everybody.

“All of them need to be ready and all of them need to understand they will play because at the end I will always try to find the best XI on the pitch.”

Overall Karanka has been pleased with the response of his players over the last two months. He has tried to improve selfbelief, as well as paying attention to the fine detail in preparation.

“I think they are the normal things, not like we are going to invent something new,’’ he said. “I think everything is about respect and hard work – that, for me, is normal. For example, if training sessions start at 10.30, everybody should be at the pitch at 10.30. If someone is not there at 10.30, the training session is going to start. If that kind of thing means I am a perfectionist, okay, I am. But it is about respect, it is about hard work and to be together.

“I think these kind of things make you better by thinking about the team. When you are arriving to a meeting or a session two or three minutes before or on time it’s because you care about your team-mates.

“If you are arriving late it means you don’t care about your team-mates. This kind of respect and the same intensity we prepare our meetings and training sessions because you have to keep going every day and you have to show the players you want more every day.

“The players have all made sure they are on time.

“The same, if I am not in the coach, the coach will depart because we are a team and we will get together always.”