Birmingham City

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Birmingham City goalkeeper James Beadle said their first away win since October capped a "perfect" night as they came away from Hillsborough with all three points following a 2-0 win at Sheffield Wednesday.

The game had looked destined for a goalless draw before late strikes from Marvin Ducksch and Kyogo Furuhashi's first in the league delivered Blues' first victory on the road in nine attempts.

"We had a game plan and stuck to it and got the three points. It was perfect," Beadle told BBC Radio WM.

The keeper, who is on loan from Premier League Brighton, has had two loan spells with the Owls over the last two seasons and said he knew how tricky this game would be.

"Every time you come here it's such a tough place to come - I felt it when I played here," he said.

"We had to be ready for it, weather it and our quality shone through. We got the two goals and kept a clean sheet, so a perfect night."

The result took Chris Davies' side's points tally to seven from the last nine after beating leaders Coventry City and drawing at Swansea in their previous two matches.

With four new signings arriving so far in the January transfer window, Beadle says the signs are looking good for a push towards the play-off places, currently only five points away.

"I think we all know there are changes coming with new players coming in but there's a strong core in the team and a real togetherness shining through," he said.

"There's such quality in our team, you can go through it in each position. We've also got a quality manager so hopefully it's a recipe for something special."

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All English Football League games across a four-day period in February will begin one minute late to raise awareness for the Every Minute Matters campaign.

The initiative will be in place for 36 matches across the Championship, League One and League Two between 5 and 9 February.

EFL sponsor Sky Bet and the British Heart Foundation (BHF) have been working together since May 2024 to highlight the importance of speed when it comes to performing live-saving CPR.

Later kick-off times will serve as "a stark reminder that every minute matters", the EFL said.

Bristol Rovers defender Tom Lockyer collapsed while playing for Luton Town eight minutes into the Championship play-off final against Coventry in May 2023.

Lockyer then suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch seven months later during a Premier League game at Bournemouth.

"What happened to me can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time," said Lockyer, who is now a BHF ambassador.

"Every year, more than 40,000 people in the UK suffer an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and most of them never make it home.

"I'm here today because of the transformative power of CPR as every minute matters when it comes to saving a life.

"This February, we want everyone to get behind this life-saving initiative, learn the skills and be ready to step in because your actions could give someone else the chance I was given."

Throughout February, the Every Minute Matters campaign will call on fans to learn CPR using the BHF's online RevivR, external tool.

"Each minute without CPR reduces a person's chance of survival, so we're urging fans to learn the skills now, before you ever need them," said Dr Charmaine Griffiths, chief executive of the BHF.

EFL chief executive officer Trevor Birch added: "The one minute kick-off adjustment is a simple, powerful reminder that swift CPR can be the difference between life and death."

Birmingham City boss Chris Davies has said his side "fully deserved" their first win away from home since October after beating Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday.

It took 83 minutes for the net to finally ripple from Marvin Ducksch's close-range shot before Kyogo Furuhashi capped off his 31st birthday with a first Championship goal in added time.

"I thought we fully deserved it with the chances that we had and it's nice to win a game away from home," Davies told BBC Radio WM.

"The most important thing for me as a football manager is the fans. They do a lot of travelling and they support us as well as any team in the league away from home and it's just so nice for us all to give them that to go home with tonight.

"The speed of it wasn't quite there. We weren't actually pressing that well. We created a couple of moments from our possessions but I didn't think we were asserting ourselves on the press.

"I really like the way we started the second half. We seemed to assert ourselves on the game a lot quicker."

Sheffield Wednesday and Birmingham City will both be in desperate need of a win when they face each other at Hillsborough on Tuesday (19:45 GMT).

Blues have not won any of their past eight league games on the road, though they did end a spell of four straight away losses with a 1-1 draw against Swansea City last time out.

Whereas for the Owls, winning at all has been a rarity this season.

Their one and only league win came on the 20 September against Portsmouth and they have not tasted victory since.

• This will be the 100th league meeting between Sheffield Wednesday and Birmingham City, with the Owls winning 35 and losing 37 of the 99 to date (D27).

• Birmingham City have lost just two of their last 11 league meetings with Sheffield Wednesday (W5 D4), although one of those was their last away from home, going down 2-0 in February 2024.

• Sheffield Wednesday have failed to win any of their last five league games against newly promoted sides (D3 L2), their longest run against such opposition since December 2018 (6).

• Sheffield Wednesday have only lost one of their last 10 league games played on a Tuesday (W4 D5), although that was their last at home, going down 0-1 to Blackburn in December 2024.

• Birmingham have won 11 of their last 14 league games played on a Tuesday (D1 L2), although did lose their last 2-1 to QPR in December.

Birmingham City are set to sign 21-year-old Danish striker August Priske after reaching a £6m agreement with Swedish top-flight side Djurgardens. (Tipsbladet - in Danish), external

Blues have also reportedly reached an agreement to sign Brighton & Hove Albion winger Ibrahim Osman, 21, on a six-month loan deal. (Birmingham World), external

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Monday's gossip column here.

Birmingham City boss Chris Davies has praised his side's improved second-half performance after claiming a point on the road at Swansea City following a run of four straight away league losses.

Blues winger Patrick Roberts scored from close range in the 72nd minute to provide the equaliser but the hunt for an away win extends into an eighth match for the West Midlands side.

"I think if we are going to improve away from home, it's going to be these types of performances in terms of the character, the grit, the determination, all those intangibles that you need in a game," Davies told BBC Sport.

"I think they were all there today and I think we can view that as a good point and move on.

"It was a tight start, I would say. But then Swansea had their tails up a little bit and got hold of the ball and more possession than I would have liked them to have, but sometimes you can't sort of stop that because they are a good footballing team. Then to go a goal down gave us obviously a bit of a mountain to climb.

"But we still had our moments in the first half so I felt like the game was well and truly alive and I said that to the players at half-time - we're right in this game, but we need to be more aggressive.

"I thought we saw a much better performance in the second half."

Birmingham City boss Chris Davies says there is a "good feel" around the club despite senior players exiting this month.

Striker Lyndon Dykes and winger Keshi Anderson, external have departed in January, with left-back Kai Wagner the only addition so far.

However after a winless spell of seven games, two successive wins, including a 3-2 victory over league leaders Coventry, has the side in a more positive mood.

"We need to make some progress [in the transfer market] next week," Davies told BBC Radio WM.

"We have probably less players available since I've been here but it's the timing of things. What we have seen in the last couple games is a better spirit and there's a galvanised feel to the group.

"Yes, we need more depth to sustain this Championship season but there's a good feel at the moment. I think the wins have helped everyone."

Blues next visit Swansea City in the Championship on Saturday (17:30 GMT) and it is a place Davies knows well.

The Watford-born manager, who earned caps in Wales' youth teams through his father, was assistant manager for then-boss Brendan Rogers during the Swans' promotion to the Premier League in 2011.

"I have a lot of fondness for the club [Swansea]," Davies added.

"My dad is from Llanelli so I know the area and the club pretty well. I'm sure there will be a few familiar faces there."

Listen to the full interview and more Birmingham City content on BBC Sounds.

Image source, Opta

Swansea City go in search of a fifth straight home win when they host Birmingham City on Saturday (17:30 GMT).

Though they have won one of their past nine away games, the Swans have risen to 17th, eight points clear of the relegation zone, off the back of their fine home run, though they did exit the FA Cup in a third round penalty shootout in front of their own fans against West Brom on Saturday.

Blues are three places and two points better off but have picked up a single point from their past seven games on the road, scoring only four times in that run.

• Swansea haven't won any of their past nine league matches against Birmingham City (D5 L4) since a 3-1 win in July 2020.

• Birmingham are looking for their first league double over Swansea since the 1979/80 campaign following their 1-0 win earlier this season.

• Swansea have won each of their past four home league matches, having won just one of their previous eight (D3 L4). The Swans last had a longer home winning run between February and April 2019 (six).

• Birmingham City have lost nine of their past 12 away Championship matches (W1 D2) and just 23.5% of their points have been won away from home this season (8/34), the lowest of any side.

• Swansea City have accumulated just 0.47 xG per 90 minutes when they've been winning in the Championship this season, the lowest of any side when they've been ahead.

Image source, Getty Images

Birmingham City full-back Bright Osayi-Samuel's hopes of lifting the Africa Cup of Nations title with Nigeria were ended in agonising fashion on Wednesday evening.

The Super Eagles held the hosts Morocco to a goalless draw in their semi-final in Rabat only to lose 4-2 on penalties.

Osayi-Samuel played the full 120 minutes of the last four tie but was not required to take a penalty in the shootout.

Nigeria will now meet Egypt in the third-place play-off on Saturday (16:00 GMT) while Morocco face Senegal in Sunday's final (19:00 GMT).

Leicester are set to compete with Ipswich and Charlton for Birmingham's Scotland striker Lyndon Dykes, 30. (Daily Mail, external)

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Tuesday's gossip column here.

Birmingham are set to sign Colombian midfielder Jhon Solis, 21, from La Liga side Girona. (Fabrizio Romano, external)

Blues are also closing in on the signing of Gambian winger Abdoulie Manneh, 21, from Swedish side Mjallby. (GiveMeSport, external)

City are set to battle Preston North End for the signing of Celtic's South Korean international wide-man Yang Hyun-jun, 23. (The Herald - via subscription, external)

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Monday's gossip column here.

Image source, Getty Images

The 2025-26 FA Cup fourth-round draw will take place on Monday, 12 January at approximately 18:35 GMT.

Proceedings will take place before kick-off in the third-round tie between Liverpool and Barnsley at Anfield.

Former England internationals Steven Gerrard and Joe Cole will conduct the draw that will consist of 32 teams live on TNT Sports.

Supporters can also follow the draw on the BBC Sport website and app.

All matches will be played around the weekend commencing Saturday, 14 February.

Unlike in previous years, there are no replays if matches end as a draw. All ties will go to extra time, and if necessary, a penalty shootout.

Non-league Macclesfield are the lowest-ranked team in the draw after beating holders Crystal Palace in a remarkable 2-1 victory.

What are the ball numbers?

• 1. Wolverhampton Wanderers

• 2. Southampton

• 3. Aston Villa

• 4. Port Vale

• 5. Wigan Athletic

• 6. Ipswich Town

• 7. Wrexham

• 8. Chelsea

• 9. Manchester City

• 10. West Ham United

• 11. Brentford

• 12. Fulham

• 13. Sunderland

• 14. Liverpool or Barnsley

• 15. Burnley

• 16. Norwich City

• 17. Arsenal

• 18. Leeds United

• 19. West Bromwich Albion

• 20. Salford City or Swindon Town

• 21. Burton Albion

• 22. Grimsby Town

• 23. Hull City

• 24. Newcastle United

• 25. Oxford United

• 26. Leicester City

• 27. Birmingham City

• 28. Bristol City

• 29. Stoke City

• 30. Macclesfield

• 31. Brighton & Hove Albion

• 32. Mansfield Town

Image source, Shutterstock

Birmingham City have announced former winger Robert Hopkins has died at the age of 64.

Hopkins, who was affectionately known to former team-mates and fans as 'Hoppo', played 207 times for Birmingham City across two spells and was part of the squad which won promotion to the First Division in 1984-85.

He was one of seven former players inducted into the Birmingham City Hall of Fame in 2012.

In between his two spells at St Andrew's, Hopkins played for West Bromwich Albion between 1987 and 1989, making 83 league appearances.

The Baggies will wear black armbands in tribute to Hopkins for their FA Cup third round against Swansea on Sunday.

He also appeared for clubs including Aston Villa, Manchester City, Shrewsbury Town and Colchester United.

Pundits Dion Dublin and Rob Green join host Jason Mohammad to bring you the action and talking points from Friday and Saturday's FA Cup ties.

Watch on BBC iPlayer here

And listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Wrexham 3-3 (4-3 pens) Nottingham Forest

• Preston North End 0-1 Wigan

• Macclesfield Town 2-1 Crystal Palace

• Everton 1-1 (0-3 pens) Sunderland

• Wolves 6-1 Shrewsbury Town

• Fulham 3-1 Middlesbrough

• Manchester City 10-1 Exeter City

• Newcastle 3-3 (7-6 pens) Bournemouth

• Stoke City 1-0 Coventry City

• Tottenham 1-2 Aston Villa

• Bristol City 5-1 Watford

• Cambridge United 2-3 Birmingham City

• Charlton 1-5 Chelsea