Birmingham City will be without Troy Deeney for the next month after he suffered a thigh injury.

The 33-year-old hasn't been outstanding for his boyhood club since arriving from Watford, but he has featured in 18 games, contributing four goals and three assists. As well as that productivity, Deeney has helped with his physicality leading the line and his leadership.

However, Lee Bowyer won't be able to call on the ex-Walsall man for the immediate future, as he confirmed to reporter Ben Ramsdale that the striker 'will be out for around four weeks' due to a thigh problem.

Whilst he will be missed, Bowyer does have Lukas Jutkiewicz to call on who is a like-for-like replacement.

The injury issue has come at a bad time for Blues though, as they are ready to embark on what is a very busy period, with the side scheduled to play five games by the end of January.

In total, Deeney could miss eight Championship fixtures if he does return after four weeks, which is not ideal for a Birmingham side that are currently 18th in the table.

The verdict

This is not what Bowyer needs because we know he doesn't have the biggest squad to work with and this is a very busy period for Blues.

The only positive is that Lukas Jutkiewicz is a ready-made replacement but there's now going to be big demands on the 32-year-old for what is a crucial period of the season.

It will be interesting to see if this forces Blues into the transfer market, although you can't imagine with the current ownership that they will be active in terms of finding a replacement.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.