Exclusive: Sky Sports pundit not concerned by Jay Stansfield trait at Birmingham City | OneFootball

The striker has scored 17 times in League One this season, but just nine of those goals have come from open play.

Lee Hendrie has backed Jay Stansfield to continue his goalscoring form in the Championship, if Birmingham City see out their title ambitions in the final month of the season.

The striker has scored 17 goals in League One so far in 2024/25, and despite just nine of these coming from open play, the Sky Sports pundit and former Aston Villa man is convinced that Blues' number 28 can show the same level of form in the second tier.

It's been an excellent campaign for the West Midlands outfit, and they head into this weekend's clash against a Barnsley side who find themselves out of form, full of confidence that they can maintain their 11-point gap at the top of the table and potentially extend it further.

Wrexham, who sit second, have played two more matches than Birmingham this season, and they know that their chances of finishing at the top of the pile are slim to say the very least, with the battle for the final automatic promotion spot heating up.

Hendrie makes Stansfield prediction ahead of Championship return

There has been a huge amount of pressure on Stansfield this season after arriving from Fulham for a reported £15m fee, a record in League One.

He is currently second in the scoring charts, behind Wycombe Wanderers' Richard Kone by just one goal, and he will be hoping that with eight games left to play, he can overtake the Chairboys' 21-year-old and take the golden boot.

It cannot be denied that Blues' talisman is being helped out by the number of penalties, however this is a natural part of football and he still has the challenge of beating the goalkeeper and firing the ball into the back of the net.

Speaking exclusively to Football League World, Lee Hendrie has backed Stansfield to continue to score goals in the Championship when Birmingham inevitably win promotion this season.

He told FLW: "You look at the goals. He has scored 17 times this season and nine of those are from open play, something that doesn't concern me one single bit at all.

"I think he can jump into the Championship and continue what he's doing in League One and I think it'll be a little bit of a different style and that's why it doesn't concern me in the slightest.

"If anything, it will suit him better playing in the Championship against teams who want to play football, and I think that's where you'll start seeing his quality shine even more with Stansfield."

Hendrie continued: "I know that they paid a lot of money for him and for me, it doesn't concern me one single bit. I think he's proven that he can do it in League One, which people think is really easy. I don't think it is.

"I think playing in a good team makes it a lot easier, but Stansfield, for me, in the Championship, it doesn’t concern me at all that he won't do well in the Championship in that Birmingham team.

"They'll make the squad around him stronger for next season when they certainly get promoted."

Chris Davies deserves credit for Stansfield's performances this season

While the deal to bring the forward back to St. Andrew's took a little bit longer than most would have hoped, Chris Davies has been able to work extremely well with the 22-year-old, and it is clear to see how much he has improved over the course of the season.

There is a confidence to Stansfield's game that he is benefiting from, and this has perhaps been helped by playing in a lower division than 2023/24 and having consistent game time.

However, as always, there will be a desire to see the ex-Fulham youngster go to the next level and become a little bit less reliant on set-pieces for his goals and show a little bit more threat from open play.

Nevertheless, this will come with time and the more time he spends out on the pitch, the more he will improve and continue to lead the line for Birmingham as they get set for an instant return to the Championship.