Birmingham City manager Pep Clotet has admitted that he is currently playing Dan Crowley out of position in order to stick by his preferred formation of 4-4-2.

The 22-year-old, who joined the Blues for an undisclosed fee from Dutch side Willem II in the summer (via BBC Sport), featured predominately as a central midfielder in the Eredivisie last season.

However, since making the switch to St Andrew's, Crowley has been asked to play on the wing by Clotet who has been using the likes of Gary Gardner, Ivan Sunjic and David Davis in the midfielder's preferred position.

Although Crowley has been able to show glimpses of his undeniable talent this season, he has yet to full adapt to his new role and thus will be determined to deliver a promising performance against Middlesbrough tonight.

Speaking to the Birmingham Mail about the midfielder, Clotet admitted: "Dan Crowley is a ten.

"He needs two things, he needs to play in a central position for his best and he needs to have a lot of options in-front of him, a ten with at least two players in front of him can move - because Dan Crowley is an assister.

"But you then need to think what the team needs and compromise as well.

"We have two players who can play up front.

"But then you need to cover and defend the wing.

"If Dan Crowley is a ten with only one man sitting behind him - against a team that plays three midfielders - like Middlesbrough - that would leave us with an underload in midfield with only Crowley and someone sitting in behind him."

The Blues, who are 14th in the Championship standings, have lost their last three league games after experiencing an encouraging start to the year.

The Verdict

Although Clotet makes a valid point about how Birmingham could get overrun by Middlesbrough tonight if they utilise Crowley in the centre of midfield, it is clear that he is not getting the best out of the former Willem II man by playing him out wide.

Therefore, the Blues boss may find it beneficial to make an alteration to his formation which will allow Crowley to operate in the hole behind Lukas Jutkiewicz and Alvaro Gimenez.

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