Chris Davies explains Alfie May decision and Tomoki Iwata issue after Birmingham City win
Chris Davies has revealed illness contributed to his decision to leave Birmingham City’s top scorer Alfie May out of the starting line-up against Rotherham.
May, who netted in each of Blues’ opening four League One matches, was a surprise omission from the XI at the New York Stadium. The 31-year-old striker had been under the weather in the build-up so Davies opted to select Lyndon Dykes instead.
“Alfie had had a little bit of a cold during the week and it disrupted his week a little bit, and I just felt it was a good opportunity to give Lyndon a start,” explained Davies. “I thought he imposed himself well.
“He’s a different type of striker to what we have, he’s more of a reference point who can hold the ball and he did that well. For us it’s about pressing and energy at the top and he tried to do that as well.”
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Goal scoring duties fell to Tomoki Iwata and Jay Stansfield once again. Iwata opened the scoring before Stansfield added the second to take his individual tally to three.
Blues' hearts were in mouths late on when Iwata limped off the field to be replaced by Marc Leonard, but Davies wasn’t overly concerned when asked about it afterwards. “I think it was cramp in his calf but I don’t know that for sure,” he said.