Birmingham City: Jay Stansfield reveals thing he loves about Chris Davies - it couldn't work last season | OneFootball

Davies has earned plenty of praise for his tactical nous in a historic season for Blues

Birmingham City ace Jay Stansfield has sung the praises of Chris Davies for his tactics that have allowed the forwards at St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park to flourish in a historic season for the club.

Speaking in the club's official matchday programme - Blues News - ahead of Saturday's 6-2 rout against Barnsley in League One, the club-record signing revealed that he and his colleagues in the attacking department, were unable to take advantage of such stability on the pitch last season due to a revolving door of permanent and temporary managers including John Eustace, Wayne Rooney, Tony Mowbray and Gary Rowett, which ended in relegation from the Championship.

Saturday's eight-goal thriller in B9 saw Blues leapfrog Wycombe Wanderers as the division's highest-scoring side, taking their overall tally to 71 from 39 games - an average of 1.8 goals per game - with Stansfield responsible for 18 of those, as he also drew level with Chairboys frontman, Richard Kone in the individual charts after converting from the spot after 35 minutes against the Tykes.

Despite last season ending in relegation, Stansfield was the main man at St Andrew's during an initial loan spell from Fulham, scoring 13 times in 43 league appearances before scooping up all five awards during the club's end-of-season presentation evening.

Plenty of his attacking colleagues from last term have departed either permanently or temporarily in the form of Scott Hogan, Tyler Roberts, Siriki Dembele, Koji Miyoshi, Oliver Burke and Sam Cosgrove.

During a hectic first transfer window, in which the multi-million addition of the 22-year-old stole the limelight, Davies also recruited third-tier goalscorer extraordinaire, Alfie May and Lyndon Dykes, as well as fresh creative blood across the season such as Willum Willumsson, Kieran Dowell, Emil Hansson, Tomoki Iwata and Marc Leonard to boost an already formidable squad.

Speaking within the programme, the club's 23-goal man has praised his boss for the strong influence which has seen the likes of May, Dowell and Keshi Anderson, in particular, step up with big moments of their own to compliment the poster-boy of the squad.

"When you get different managers, every manager wants to play a different way," Stansfield said.

"Last season, we had to try and adapt to five different ways of playing and it sort of upsets your rhythm. But this year, we've got a style of football that suits the attackers.

"If that's running in behind or arriving in the box and feeding off crosses, it suits a forward massively," he added.

"I think that shows with the amount of goals our forwards have scored this season," the top-scorer explained. "It is a lot more enjoyable to be part of things when we know we are going to be playing attacking football.

"We have so many good attacking players at the club, and they are amazing to play with.

"What is really good about the group is that there are no arguments if someone is starting or someone's not. Everyone just gets on with their job," Stansfield stated.

"I think the main boost for our team this year is that everyone is really together and we understand the gaffer's decision.

"To have the players around you of that quality, it is a privilege to be able to play with them and to train with them as well. I think it has helped me massively," he concluded.

Birmingham City's attacking outlets have been too strong for League One defences

Despite there being an argument from other sets of supporters that half of Stansfield's strikes have come from the penalty spot, the former Exeter City man has still showcased a strong variety of finishes from open play, such as his mazy run and powerful finish that decided a tight contest with Charlton Athletic and a guided header against Wrexham from a teasing Alex Cochrane delivery.

It had taken some time for Davies to settle on the best positions for the star man and his striking partner, May, to take up when on the pitch simultaneously. That argument has since been put to bed, as the man, who hit over 20 goals in the division in the past three seasons, ended a 16-game goal drought with back-to-back home braces against Shrewsbury Town and Barnsley - playing a starring role in a goal-laden second half in the B9 sun against Conor Hourihane's strong travellers.

It remains to be seen how many more times Dykes will feature this season after sustaining a calf injury against Reading just five days after his sixth goal of the campaign sent Blues to the EFL Trophy final with a towering header against Bradford City, whilst Lukas Jutkiewicz netted his first league goal of the season with a memorable finish on Saturday afternoon.

May is also leading the way in terms of assists for Davies' men, and the aforementioned Anderson has proven his worth under the former Tottenham Hotspur assistant's management, with his direct nature, speed and technical ability leading to plenty of goalscoring opportunities for himself and his teammates, hitting 15 goal contributions across all competitions.

There is plenty of optimism that Birmingham are set up nicely across the board as they motor on towards a first-time promotion having recorded a club-record points haul of 92, which could be added to in the first of two clashes with Peterborough United at the Weston Homes Stadium and at Wembley for Sunday's showpiece event.

Stansfield has provided plenty of big moments for Bluenoses to savour this season, and you wouldn't bet against the England youth international to continue his exploits in what looks set to be a season-defining week for his side as a double shot at glory awaits.