Davis must flop Birmingham, which won just 38% of its duels.

Birmingham City may have moved up to ninth place at the end of their Championship showdown with Sheffield United, but they are still a long way from upsetting the play-off party.

In fact, they moved into the coveted top six by seven points, and the 1-1 final result against the Blades meant they missed a chance to upset sixth-placed Wrexham.

After 67 minutes of a close game, the South Yorkshire side were reduced to 10 men and Birmingham somehow failed to get a win against Chris Wilder’s visiting side.

However, just after Femi Seriki was given his marching orders, Marvin Dakush took a spectacular free-kick that beat Adam Davis in the opposition goal and found the back of the net.

Still, after watching a tense game at St Andrews, those of the Blues persuasion will once again expect more from Jay Stansfield, who remains goal-conscious against Chris Davies’ side.

Stansfield’s goalless performance continues.

Davies would have been relieved that the German attacker’s moment of magic had arrived, as 17 other shots passed his side during the frustrating draw.

Stansfield would go on to record two of those performances, but rather than breaking his Championship scoring duck, they ended up being just another game that the former Fulham striker won’t look back on too fondly.

Surprisingly, Stansfield has only scored one goal in league play this year, despite accumulating 10 goals in all competitions this season.

It’s clear his confidence has been hurt by his lackluster games against the likes of Wilder, with the number 28 having just 18 touches on the ball.

Often he was just running around gasping for air, unable to strike fear into a depleted Blades backline, which meant January signing August Pliske took over for the second half of the grueling fixture.

Now may be the time for Davis to lean into Pliske and see what he can offer, rather than relying on Stansfield, who has been in poor form, to make a comeback.

Further changes could soon be made in attacking positions ahead of Derby County’s match against Blackburn Rovers. That’s because alongside the 23-year-old, the presence of another disappointing forward could threaten the chop.

Stansfield is not alone in Birmingham’s poor performance.

Pliske was not the only notable January signing to link up with Davies’ camp during a productive mid-season transfer window, with Ibrahim Osman also set to join the Blues on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion.

Having once cost the Seagulls a whopping £16m, there will have been a lot of expectations when the tricky Ghanaian arrived at St Andrews. His gung-ho play could potentially boost the League One title winners and make their dreams of back-to-back promotions a reality.

Osman has rapidly thrilled the St Andrews public since joining, scoring against relegation-threatened Leicester City, who opened his Blues account in February.

However, the same lightning winger intent on causing all sorts of trouble was absent against the 10-man Blades, with none of his three dribbling attempts successful during the 1-1 draw.

Furthermore, other than hitting the woodwork early on, Osman looked hesitant in front of goal as United’s defenders were able to monitor him very comfortably, resulting in the 21-year-old only winning 38% of the 13 duels he attempted.

The selection conundrum that Davies now faces is whether to leave out the former FC Nordsjelland winger. The experienced attacker struggled mightily, losing the ball six times in just 20 touches, considering he was substituted by Wilder’s man Demarai Gray.

Davies has the luxury of having plenty of attacking options to rely on as he looks to put together a starting XI that can get back to winning ways as soon as possible in Birmingham, a side known for their excessive spending power.

Mistakes like this point against United will continue and dreams of promotion will disappear and be buried.