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Birmingham City receive injury boost ahead of Championship opener vs Sheffield United Chris Davies has provided an update on Birmingham City's squad before the trip to Sheffield United on Saturday Chris Davies expects Birmingham City defender Alex Cochrane to be in contention to start against Sheffield United after recovering from a back injury. Left-back Cochrane collided with Christoph Klarer in the first half of last weekend’s cup win at Swansea City and couldn’t continue after half-time. Lee Buchanan deputised for Cochrane in the second half in what was his first competitive game since December 2024. FOLLOW ON FACEBOOK! All the latest Blues news on Birmingham Live’s Birmingham City FC Facebook page But Cochrane could reclaim his spot at Bramall Lane – and Davies says Paik Seung-ho and Demarai Gray are good to go after getting minutes under their belt in South Wales. “Dimmy’s had a good week on the back of that,” said Davies. “Paik came through it well and they’ve all recovered pretty well. Cochrane took a heavy knock but he’s recovered from that so we’re in good shape.” Kanya Fujimoto was a notable absentee in Swansea after featuring in all of Blues’ pre-season matches. The Japanese midfielder missed out with ‘a knock’ according to Davies and isn’t a million miles away from being available again. “Kanya is close,” Davies added. “He’s not got a long-term injury, it’s something he’s been trying to build up through this week. He’s close to being available for this game.” German striker Marvin Ducksch is building up his fitness after having his pre-season wiped out by an injury, while Marc Leonard and Taylor Gardner-Hickman are out for the foreseeable future.