Birmingham City boss calls for Bristol Rovers to be ‘punished’ for what they did to Jay Stansfield

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Jay Stansfield stepped up and bagged the winner from the penalty spot for Birmingham City against Bristol Rovers at the Memorial Stadium last night.

It takes Blues another step closer to achieving promotion at the first time of asking, following the club’s relegation from the Championship to League One last season.

Chris Davies’ side were not at their best but put in a performance of champions, although Keshi Anderson was the star. Pundits waxed lyrical about Stansfield as the club’s ‘vanity project’ but his form had been a problem of late.

There were calls to start Alfie May over Stansfield, but Davies made the right decision after his 85th minute winner. Unfortunately, it wasn’t all plain sailing for the striker after he won and scored the spot kick, though.

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Chris Davies’ anger at Jay Stansfield treatment

Inigo Calderon believes his side were the better team on the night, but Birmingham dug in to grind out the win. However, his opposite number in the Birmingham dugout was less than happy with the treatment of Stansfield late on.

Talking about Bristol Rovers trying to put the centre-forward off for the penalty, Davies outlined his thoughts post-match. He said: “Stuff like that needs to be punished by the officials.

“That’s unacceptable, that we’re having to go to the lengths that we are to defend our players.

“Jay took it really well. He made a good run to win the penalty. Fully deserved.

“It’s up to the officials to do their job. If someone is berating and going after a player, and abusing them or whatever, then they need to book them. It’s not right and it needs to stop happening.

“You’ve seen it in other games as well. They were trying everything tonight, their players. There was all sorts going on, so that didn’t surprise me.

“But it didn’t work because we scored the penalty.”

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The League One golden boot race after Stansfield’s winner against Bristol Rovers

Stansfield may have cost the club a lot of money but he is paying it back with goals on the pitch. The club will hope for more signings like him to kick on in the second tier and not just to make up the numbers.

That is likely after we exclusively revealed their summer plans recently, which include further investment from Tom Brady and co. once promotion is secured and to build around Stansfield.

They have a player full of potential and full of confidence. The sky is the limit for Stansfield in the coming seasons. The 22-year-old will likely establish himself as one of the Championship’s best strikers straight away.