Gary Rowett has revealed that Lukas Jutkiewicz faces a stint on the sidelines with the knee injury he sustained in Birmingham City’s defeat to Watford last time out.
Jutkiewicz is the sole survivor from interim manager Rowett’s last Blues squad but he might not be available for the final eight games. The veteran striker landed awkwardly in the closing stages of the Watford game after challenging for a header.
Marc Roberts hasn’t trained under Rowett either, but others have sporadically joined in during the international break. Rowett has selection dilemmas over midfielders Jordan James and Paik Seung-ho due to their international exertions with Wales and South Korea respectively.
“Jukey is going to be out for a period,” Rowett said in his first press conference since returning. “Marc Roberts hasn’t trained with us yet. We have had quite a few who have had a day’s training and it’s about assessing where we think those players are at.
Birmingham City super stadium latest
Birmingham City have today taken another step towards Tom Wagner and Knighthead's long-term vision at the club by acquiring the 48-acre former Wheels Park at Bordesley Green.
BirminghamLive understands that the club intends to create a multi-sports super stadium on the site. A deal has been agreed as part of the struggling city council's mass sell-off of land to help fund redundancies and equal pay claims. Up to 3,000 jobs will be created, according to council documents.
Blues have been linked to the piece of land - formerly known as Wheels Adventure Park - ever since it was bought back by the council in 2019.
Here's all the latest stories you need to read on this huge story for Blues...
- The next step in the Birmingham City project - read here
- What we know so far - read here
- Leading fans speak out - read here
- Where is Birmingham Wheels? - read here
- How we broke the news - read here
- Our verdict on the seismic news - read here
- Where the stadium could rank against rivals - read here
- St Andrew's through the years - read here
- Time to say goodbye - read here
“Alternatively, there might be players who have trained every day but haven’t played much football for six or seven weeks. That’s part of the job, assessing what’s required. In an ideal world I would pick what I think is the best team and it’s up to them to keep the shirt, they can keep it for eight games if they want, but they are going to have to win games of football and work incredibly hard.
“We spoke to the group initially and one of the points I made was that I don’t care if they have played no minutes or all the minutes, every single one of you has to be ready. They have all got to be ready and play their part. At least I haven’t got to worry long-term about what they think of me! It makes my job easier.”
Rowett could be boosted by Krystian Bielik's return from injury against Queens Park Rangers. The influential Pole hasn’t featured since Blues’ win over Sunderland on February 17 due to a stomach injury.
“Krystian trained today,” Rowett confirmed. “We will assess where he is. He is a good player, a player I have seen a lot of before. We need all those players out there available.”
