Birmingham have certainly spent lots of money in their quest to return to the Championship at the first attempt – more than any other side at this level, even Wrexham, could match.
Their spending last summer was understood to have topped £25m to bring in 17 new players, including paying seven-figure fees for Emil Hansson, Ayumu Yokoyama, Alex Cochrane and Lyndon Dykes.
They had also twice come close to breaking the League One transfer record with the arrivals of defender Christoph Klarer and midfielder Willum Willumsson, both for around £4m, before they actually did so on last August’s transfer deadline day.
Their final signing of the summer was to bring in striker Jay Stansfield from Fulham for a jaw-dropping eight-figure fee – smashing the £4m paid by Sunderland to Wigan Athletic for Will Grigg in 2019.
Half of Stansfield’s 18 league goals, the joint most in the division, have been penalties, but by being ruthless from the spot it has helped create the hugely efficient way Blues have beaten teams this season.
Until scoring a combined 10 goals in successive home wins over Shrewsbury Town and Barnsley, Birmingham had hardly ‘put away’ any side.
As Davies has maintained all season, that is largely down to the way so many other sides have raised their game against them and fought so hard to make things difficult.
“Blues supporters have new heroes,” said Wilford.
“Austrian centre-back Klarer has brought a mixture of no-nonsense defending and confidence on the ball.
“Tomoki Iwata and Paik Seung-Ho bring class to a midfield that has added goal punch since the January addition of Kieran Dowell.
“Goalkeeper Ryan Allsop’s distribution from the back has been a hallmark of the season, as has the quality and productivity of the excellent Keshi Anderson.”
