Three Birmingham City players in danger of suspension as tests await

A couple Birmingham City players could miss at least two Championship games due to suspensions.

Three Birmingham City players face a two-match punishment under an EFL disciplinary regulation.

Dion Sanderson received a three-game suspension after being red carded against Southampton. Blues appealed the judgment, but were unsuccessful, thus he will be missing for another game. Sanderson could be joined by several of his teammates, who are also facing a penalty.

The EFL has disciplinary regulations for players who receive a set number of yellow cards. If a player receives 10 yellow cards before the season’s 37th game, they will be suspended for two games.

With two games left before the deadline, four players have eight or more yellow cards. However, three of them have the potential to play in the coming weeks. Krystian Bielik, a centre-back, is closest with nine, but he has a torn stomach muscle. Interim boss Mark Venus has ruled him out for the next few weeks, so he is not in risk of receiving a penalty.

Juninho Bacuna, Ivan Sunnis, and Jay Stansfield all have eight yellow cards. All are players that have played a significant amount of football this season. Stansfield has the third most minutes this season, followed by Bacuna and Sunjic in fifth and sixth place.

All three players in contention face two away games against Hull City (March 5) and Millwall (March 9). If they can do it, they will avoid missing two games during the run-in. The EFL does have a regulation that any player who accumulates 15 yellow cards will be banned for three matches, but it would be excessive for any player.

The Blues are currently 20th in the Championship standings and are out of the relegation zone due to goal difference. Their absences are limited to Alfie Chang, Dion Sanderson, and Krystian Bielik, with Marc Roberts a doubt for Tuesday night’s match against Hull City.

If Hull City defender Jacob Greaves, a rumored Everton target, is carded tonight against Birmingham, he will be suspended for the Tigers’ next two games. Millwall’s Jake Cooper and George Saville have eight yellow cards this season, so even if they were carded against Blackburn Rovers tonight, they would not miss the weekend unless they received a red card.