'A rare Blues away win but still short in attack'

[BBC] Our previous visit to Swansea City before Saturday's 1-0 win in the EFL Cup was a distinctly unimpressive draw, although I suppose in the context of last season's away form, a point there was an improvement on some of our dire results on the road. Although we have a reasonable squad, we are still a bit short on attacking options, so Chris Davies ended up putting a not-quite-fit Paik Seung-ho behind August Priske in the starting line-up. It's not Paik's usual position, and he hasn't had a full pre-season - and it quickly showed that he was off the pace. Jay Stansfield was again pushed out on the left wing, which isn't his best position either, but Demarai Gray wasn't fit enough to start. The first quarter of an hour looked very much like a "last season Blues" performance, so it was something of a relief when we started to pick up the pace a bit on the way to a rare away victory. The long, long absent Lee Buchanan returned to first-team duties as a half-time sub, and it was great to see him again - he suffered a terrible knee injury back in December 2024, and his recovery has been long and (probably) painful. We also saw a debut for Luis Vazquez, who certainly made his presence felt in the last 20 minutes and looks to be a good addition to the squad. Priske's goal was the difference between the two teams, and we are in the draw for the second round. And there are five very important words to sign off with: a win on the road. Hear and read more from Kym Smith on Birmingham Hospital Radio