Boss getting no kick from Alen absence
BIRMINGHAM City play-maker Alen Halilovic is expected to miss the next two games.
That’s according to head coach Aitor Karanka, who watched his side held to a 1-1 home draw with Coventry on Saturday.
After taking the lead Blues struggled for the remainder of the first half and Karanka was once again forced into making changes at the interval.
One of those saw Jon Toral replaced at No.10 after an insipid display that left fans wondering about the absence of Halilovic.
The Croatian, who came off the bench to such inventive effect against Preston in the previous match, was not in the matchday squad.
Karanka revealed why, saying: “He got a kick in the training session, he is going to be out for a while, maybe a week or 10 days.”
That kept the 24-year-old out of contention for Tuesday night’s trip to Wycombe and Saturday’s jaunt to Bournemouth, leaving Karanka with a choice between keeping faith with Toral, handing another opportunity to Riley McGree or potentially changing formation.
Since signing as a free agent after the start of the season, Halilovic has played just five times.
He has made only one start, which lasted 45 minutes when he hurt his groin in the 0-0 draw with Nottingham Forest.
Meanwhile, Blues’ rookie Miguel Fernandez is heading back to Spain to take up a loan deal.
The 20-year-old has been at St Andrew’s since signing from UE Cornella in 2019 but despite scoring regularly for the Under23s, the attacking midfielder has not been able to crack the first team. Blues have decided to get him some first-team experience with CD Guijuelo, who play in the third tier of Spanish football.
The club already have the likes of Odin Bailey, Remeao Hutton, Charlie Lakin and Josh Andrews out on loan.