2015–16 Birmingham City F.C. season

Birmingham City F.C.

2015–16 season
Owner	Birmingham International Holdings
Manager	Gary Rowett
Stadium	St Andrew's
Championship	9th (as of match played 29 April)
FA Cup	Third round (eliminated by AFC Bournemouth)
League Cup	Third round (eliminated by Aston Villa)
Top goalscorer	League: Clayton Donaldson (11) All: Clayton Donaldson, (11)
Highest home attendance	21,380 (vs Middlesbrough, 29 April 2016)
Lowest home attendance	9,275 (vs Gillingham, League Cup 2nd round, 25 August 2015)
Home colours Away colours
← 2014–15

The 2015–16 season is Birmingham City Football Club's 113th season in the English football league system and fifth consecutive season in the Football League Championship.^[1] The season covers the period from 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2016.

As with all clubs in the top two tiers of English football, Birmingham entered the 2015–16 FA Cup in the third round; they lost in that round at home to Premier League club AFC Bournemouth. In the League Cup, they progressed through two rounds before being eliminated by Aston Villa in the third.

Background and pre-season

After a training camp in mainland Europe,^[2] Birmingham City's pre-season programme continued with friendly matches away to Nuneaton Town, Kidderminster Harriers, Northampton Town, Shrewsbury Town and Burton Albion.^[3] They also faced Benfica B at St George's Park.^[4] Their only home friendly was against Leicester City.^[3]

Pre-season match details

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Score F–A	Scorers	Attendance	Refs
14 July 2015	Nuneaton Town	A	W	3–0	Novak 25' Shinnie 70' Davis 73'	1,071	[5]
18 July 2015	Kidderminster Harriers	A	D	1–1	Lowry[lower-alpha 1] 82'	2,801	[6]
21 July 2015	Shrewsbury Town[lower-alpha 2]	A	W	2–0	Thomas 2' Donaldson 15'	1,919	[7][8]
21 July 2015	Northampton Town[lower-alpha 2]	A	D	2–2	Gray 3' Novak 76'	1,675	[9][10]
25 July 2015	Burton Albion	A	L	0–2		3,393	[11]
27 July 2015	Benfica B	N	L	0–1		n/a	[4]
1 August 2015	Leicester City	H	L	2–3	Cotterill 23', Gray 25'	7,026	[12]

1. Trialist
2. Squad split in two, both games played simultaneously

Football League Championship

August–September

Unlike in recent seasons,^[13] there were only three debutants in the opening-day fixture at home to Reading: Polish international goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak, Dutch under-21 international defensive midfielder Maikel Kieftenbeld, and attacking midfielder Jon Toral on loan from Arsenal. With all senior players available for selection,^[14] the team lined up in manager Gary Rowett's preferred 4–2–3–1 formation with Paul Caddis and Jonathan Grounds at full back, Jonathan Spector and Michael Morrison at centre back, Kieftenbeld alongside Stephen Gleeson in defensive midfield, Demarai Gray and David Cotterill as wide midfielders, and Toral in support of lone striker Clayton Donaldson. Either side of half-time, Birmingham took a two-goal lead via Cotterill's deflected free kick and Toral's header from Donaldson's cross. Kuszczak's fumble led to the visitors making the score 2–1, but well into stoppage time, substitute David Davis's challenge conceded a penalty. Kuszcazk atoned for his earlier error by parrying the kick, and Reading's Simon Cox failed to convert the rebound.^[15]

Away to Burnley, Birmingham twice took the lead, first when Toral ran on to Donaldson's through ball and finished with a first-time shot from the edge of the penalty area, and then via Caddis's penalty, and Cotterill hit the post with a free kick, but with five minutes left, Matt Taylor's powerful free kick earned the hosts a point. Birmingham's penalty caused controversy: there seemed to be little contact by the defender on Donaldson,^[16] whose post-match claim that "You get told if you get a slight touch go down" prompted accusations of cheating.^[17] The visit to Brentford, scheduled for 18 August, was postponed six days before the scheduled date of 18 August because the hosts needed to re-lay the Griffin Park pitch on an emergency basis. Unusually, they agreed to reimburse supporters for non-refundable travel costs already incurred.^[18]

Against Derby County, Gleeson's deflected shot from distance – his first goal for the club – gave Birmingham the lead, which Toral should have increased, but the visitors equalised after an hour, had striker Chris Martin yellow-carded for simulation when he appeared to have been fouled inside the area,^[19] and hit the frame of the goal three times, including an excellent save from Kuszczak to turn Andi Weimann's shot onto the post and catch the rebound.^[20] After the game, Rowett made comparisons with some of the richer clubs in the division, claiming that although his "team of free transfers and players bought with someone’s pocket money" were "more than matching teams", they were "always disappointed coming in we haven't done a little bit more."^[21] The second goal of Gleeson's Birmingham career opened the scoring in the club's first League visit to his former club, Milton Keynes Dons: he curled Donaldson's cutback over the goalkeeper into the corner of the net. Later in the game, he was stretchered off with an ankle injury that proved less serious than initially feared. To complete a 2–0 win, substitute Jacques Maghoma ran on to Donaldson's through ball and placed it wide of the goalkeeper.^[22]

Donaldson – Birmingham's leading scorer in 2014–15 – made up for this season's goal drought with a first-half hat-trick at home to Bristol City. The third goal came from a penalty awarded for a foul on Toral; Bristol City's manager, Steve Cotterill, thought Toral should have been booked for simulation. Regular penalty-taker Caddis allowed Donaldson to take the kick to complete his hat-trick, and a Grounds header completed a 4–2 win.^[23][24] After five league matches with an unchanged starting eleven, Rowett brought in Maghoma for Gray for the visit of Nottingham Forest, who inflicted Birmingham's first defeat of the season and became the first team to prevent them scoring. Forest scored after 54 minutes, after which Gray and league debutants Nicolai Brock-Madsen and Viv Solomon-Otabor entered the game, but in vain. Rowett was disappointed by the way the team "became a little frantic and a little bit too hurried and desperate on the ball and did not show enough quality."^[25]

Neal Eardley, returning to league football after nearly a year out injured, lasted 44 minutes of the visit to Ipswich Town before dislocating his shoulder.^[26] Andy Shinnie, making his first start of the season, exploited a defensive error to play Cotterill in for the opening goal, which was equalised ten minutes later via a penalty awarded against Spector, a decision that divided opinion.^[27] The flatness of their second consecutive home defeat, 2–0 to bottom-of-the-table Rotherham United, was arguably a reaction to the midweek League Cup defeat at Aston Villa.^[28][29] September ended with the rearranged visit to Brentford; since the original date, the club had sold their 2014–15 top scorer Andre Gray,^[30] sacked their manager, and appointed former Birmingham captain Lee Carsley in his place. With Shinnie injured, Rowett brought in David Davis in a three-man defensive midfield, and unexpectedly gave club captain Paul Robinson his first league start in several months. A 2–0 win via Morrison's header from a corner and Gleeson's long ball that Donaldson chipped over the goalkeeper left Birmingham in fifth place, six points behind leaders Brighton & Hove Albion.^[31][32]

October–November

Birmingham prolonged Leeds United's run without a home win courtesy of a fine performance by Gray, capped by a powerful shot from inside the penalty area for his first goal of the season, two saves by Kuszczak, and a stoppage-time goal from substitute Maghoma.^[33][34] Their own winning run continued at home to Queens Park Rangers, when they came from behind via Robinson's header from Gray's free kick – his second goal for the club in 127 matches – and a second-half penalty converted by Caddis after Donaldson was fouled,^[35] and away to bottom club Bolton Wanderers, when Robinson and Gray repeated their partnership for the only goal of the match after 20 inutes. What the BBC's reporter called "some desperate Blues defending", aided by the introduction of Spector as a sweeper to protect the back four, helped Birmingham hold their lead and go second in the table.^[36] Rowett retained that formation for the visit to Hull City, but the hosts profited from the additional freedom available to their midfield and won 2–0.^[37] On the anniversary of Rowett's first match in charge, a goalless draw away to Wolverhampton Wanderers, Birmingham lost 2–0 at home to the same opponents. He was critical of the team's lack of quality, feeling they "needed to be more inventive and show more composure on the ball."^[38]

Birmingham's first home clean sheet of the season combined with a third consecutive failure to score produced a goalless draw at home to 15th-placed Blackburn Rovers,^[39] marred by an injury to Cotterill's knee that would keep him out of Championship football until February.^[40] A free-flowing performance and five goals away followed against a defensively poor Fulham side. In stoppage time, Viv Solomon-Otabor scored his first senior goal: after a run down the left,^[41] "a neat turn that left Richard Stearman on his backside was followed by a clinical finish".^[42] Donaldson returned from making his international debut for Jamaica with a groin injury that was predicted to keep him out for six weeks. Rowett suggested the damage could have been less serious had Donaldson not played the whole match despite being obviously unfit, but Jamaica coach Winfried Schäfer said the player had insisted on continuing.^[43] The inexperienced Brock-Madsen led the line at home to Charlton Athletic. Their manager, Karel Fraeye, "aware that Birmingham struggle at home when they try to be dominant", fielded a well-organised team who scored from what Rowett described as "their only real chance on goal in the whole game."^[44] A defeat at Brighton & Hove Albion put the hosts top of the table and left Birmingham in sixth place going into December.^[45]

December–January

Rowett's proactive changes at home to Huddersfield Town – adopting a 4–3–3 formation and a pressing style – were countered by the "worst start you could ever have",^[46] as Aston Villa fan and former Birmingham trainee Joe Lolley scored after 33 seconds; for the fourth game running, Birmingham could not do the same, and suffered their third consecutive defeat.^[46][47] With loanee James Vaughan leading the line, Birmingham played out a goalless draw at Middlesbrough in wet and windy conditions; according to the BBC's reporter, Morrison "should have won it when he headed wide late on".^[48] A penalty, awarded in first-half stoppage time for handball when the ball appeared to strike the "offender" in the face, was converted by substitute Caddis to secure Birmingham's first league win since 7 November.^[49] Defensive errors led to a 3–0 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday,^[50] and the last fixture of 2015, at home to Milton Keynes Dons, saw the return to the starting eleven of Donaldson and a 1–0 win courtesy of Maghoma, who "performed not one but two cut-backs, sending six Dons players the wrong way before unleashing a fierce strike into the roof of the net",^[51] which took Birmingham into the new year ninth in the table.

Despite the absence of Demarai Gray, on the verge of completing a £3.5 million transfer to Premier League club Leicester City, and a first-half injury to Donaldson, Birmingham secured a 2–1 win at home to Brentford via Kieftenbeld's 89th-minute winner.^[52][53] He won the ball in midfield, played it through to Vaughan, and kept running; when Vaughan shot across goal, Kieftenbeld arrived at the far post just in time to slide the ball home for his first goal for the club.^[54] A draw at Nottingham Forest^[55] preceded a 3–0 win at third-placed Derby County by a Birmingham side described by the Observer's reporter as "tight at the back, and clinical in attack".^[56] Kieftenbeld completed the win by "crashing home a brilliant first-time volley from the edge of the area",^[56] a feat he repeated in the next match, also 3–0, at home to Ipswich Town.^[57] A goalless draw at Bristol City meant Birmingham went through January unbeaten with eleven points from their five matches, which brought the team back into the play-off positions and earned Rowett a nomination for Championship Manager of the Month to add to Kieftenbeld's Player of the Month nomination.^[58][59] They lost out to Hull City's Steve Bruce and Abel Hernández respectively.^[60]

February–March

Donaldson scored his first goal since November in the fifth of thirteen minutes of first-half stoppage time, as a result of injuries to Sheffield Wednesday's Keiren Westwood and Sam Hutchinson,^[61] but the arrival of Atdhe Nuhiu as a second-half substitute changed the game and Gary Hooper's two goals in two minutes gave the visitors a win.^[62] Rotherham United marked the arrival of Neil Warnock as manager with two sendings-off in a goalless draw at home to Birmingham.^[63] A minute's applause in memory of former Birmingham manager Freddie Goodwin, who had led the team to promotion to the First Division in 1971–72 and twice reached the semifinals of the FA Cup, preceded the visit of struggling Bolton Wanderers. Having averted an imminent winding-up order by agreeing a takeover deal, they lost 1–0 at Birmingham to a Donaldson goal set up by Diego Fabbrini, making his first start (in place of the rested Toral) since signing a permanent contract with the club.^[64][65] February ended with a poor first-half performance that was punished with a 2–0 defeat at Queens Park Rangers.^[66]

March began with second-placed Hull City's first loss of 2016 as former Birmingham defender Curtis Davies deflected Toral's shot past his own goalkeeper,^[67] but defeat at Blackburn Rovers dropped Birmingham to ninth position.^[68] A man-of-the-match performance from Davis, recalled to the starting eleven for the visit to Wolverhampton Wanderers, his former club, was spoilt only when Carl Ikeme made a "great save" to stop his powerful shot giving Birmingham a victory.^[69] Davis again nearly won the match at home to Fulham late on with a shot that hit the post, but another draw kept Birmingham in ninth, but now six points off the play-off places albeit with a game in hand.^[70]

April–May

A rearranged schedule because of cup commitments or for television broadcast meant Birmingham had eight fixtures in 28 days in April, including home matches against the top three teams in the division. They began at Charlton Athletic, who were on the verge of relegation. After a delay caused by home fans throwing hundreds of sponge footballs onto the pitch as part of an ongoing protest against the club's ownership, Charlton won via a 94th-minute header from a corner when "when everyone is back and two or three players were stood watching while their player heads it in."^[71]

Match results

Match results: Championship

Date	League position	Opponents	Venue	Result	Score F–A	Scorers	Attendance	Refs
8 August 2015	5th	Reading	H	W	2–1	Cotterill 40', Toral 47'	19,171	[72]
15 August 2015	5th	Burnley	A	D	2–2	Toral 10', Caddis 63' pen.	12,430	[73]
21 August 2015	7th	Derby County	H	D	1–1	Gleeson 45'	18,134	[19]
29 August 2015	7th	Milton Keynes Dons	A	W	2–0	Gleeson 57', Maghoma 79'	14,626	[74]
12 September 2015	4th	Bristol City	H	W	4–2	Donaldson 10', 20', 41' pen., Grounds 77'	18,819	[23]
15 September 2015	7th	Nottingham Forest	H	L	0–1		16,604	[25]
18 September 2015	6th	Ipswich Town	A	D	1–1	Cotterill 22'	18,973	[27]
26 September 2015	9th	Rotherham United	H	L	0–2		17,307	[29]
29 September 2015	5th	Brentford	A	W	2–0	Morrison 71', Donaldson 90+4'	9,528	[31]
3 October 2015	4th	Leeds United	A	W	2–0	Gray 31', Maghoma 90+1'	24,601	[33]
17 October 2015	4th	Queens Park Rangers	H	W	2–1	Robinson 24', Caddis 63' pen.	19,161	[35]
20 October 2015	2nd	Bolton Wanderers	A	W	1–0	Robinson 20'	13,703	[36]
24 October 2015	6th	Hull City	A	L	0–2		17,436	[75]
31 October 2015	6th	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	L	0–2		18,946	[38]
3 November 2015	6th	Blackburn Rovers	H	D	0–0		15,701	[39]
7 November 2015	6th	Fulham	A	W	5–2	Gleeson 19', Caddis 22' pen., Toral 31', Donaldson 82', Solomon-Otabor 90+5'	18,888	[76]
21 November 2015	6th	Charlton Athletic	H	L	0–1		16,514	[44]
28 November 2015	6th	Brighton and Hove Albion	A	L	1–2	Toral 21'	27,242	[45]
5 December 2015	7th	Huddersfield Town	H	L	0–2		15,931	[77]
12 December 2015	9th	Middlesbrough	A	D	0–0		20,929	[48]
15 December 2015	8th	Preston North End	A	D	1–1	Morrison 67'	10,668	[78]
18 December 2015	7th	Cardiff City	H	W	1–0	Caddis 45+1' pen.	14,414	[49]
26 December 2015	10th	Sheffield Wednesday	A	L	0–3		28,523	[79]
28 December 2015	9th	Milton Keynes Dons	H	W	1–0	Maghoma 63'	19,714	[80]
2 January 2016	8th	Brentford	H	W	2–1	Maghoma 55', Kieftenbeld 89'	17,555	[52]
12 January 2016	8th	Nottingham Forest	A	D	1–1	Toral 24'	18,342	[55]
16 January 2016	8th	Derby County	A	W	3–0	Robinson 59', Gleeson 74', Kieftenbeld 80'	32,895	[81]
23 January 2016	7th	Ipswich Town	H	W	3–0	Buckley 23', Toral 54', Kieftenbeld 70'	18,272	[82]
30 January 2016	6th	Bristol City	A	D	0–0		15,728	[58]
6 February 2016	8th	Sheffield Wednesday	H	L	1–2	Donaldson 45+5'	20,302	[61]
13 February 2016	7th	Rotherham United	A	D	0–0		11,018	[63]
23 February 2016	7th	Bolton Wanderers	H	W	1–0	Donaldson 29'	15,992	[64]
27 February 2016	8th	Queens Park Rangers	A	L	0–2		17,110	[66]
3 March 2016	7th	Hull City	H	W	1–0	Toral 14'	18,105	[67]
8 March 2016	9th	Blackburn Rovers	A	L	0–2		12,774	[68]
13 March 2016	8th	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	D	0–0		21,464	[69]
19 March 2016	9th	Fulham	H	D	1–1	Morrison 56'	17,104	[70]
2 April 2016	9th	Charlton Athletic	A	L	1–2	Toral 32'	15,742	[71]
5 April 2016	9th	Brighton & Hove Albion	H	L	1–2	Lafferty 16'	16,143	[83]
9 April 2016	9th	Reading	A	W	2–0	Donaldson 2', Shotton 27'	17,868	[84]
12 April 2016	9th	Leeds United	H	L	1–2	Donaldson 53'	16,081	[85]
16 April 2016	9th	Burnley	H	L	1–2	Maghoma 55'	19,151	[86]
19 April 2016	9th	Preston North End	H	D	2–2	Donaldson 13', 59'	14,366	[87]
23 April 2016	9th	Huddersfield Town	A	D	1–1	Cotterill 73'	13,054	[88]
29 April 2016	9th	Middlesbrough	H	D	2–2	Gleeson 33', Davis 68'	21,380	[89]

Current league table (part)

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
7	Cardiff City	45	17	16	12	55	50	+5	67
8	Ipswich Town	45	17	15	13	52	51	+1	66
9	Birmingham City	45	16	14	15	52	48	+4	62
10	Brentford	45	18	8	19	67	66	+1	62
11	Preston North End	45	15	16	14	44	44	0	61

Updated to match(es) played on 2 May 2016. Source: BBC Sport
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
45	16	14	15	52	48	+4	62	9	5	9	27	27	0	7	9	6	25	21	+4

Source: ^[90]

FA Cup

FA Cup match details

Round	Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Score F–A	Scorers	Attendance	Refs
Third round	9 January 2016	A.F.C. Bournemouth	H	L	1–2	Morrison 40'	13,140	[91]

League Cup

In the first round, Birmingham were drawn away against Bristol Rovers. This was the second consecutive season that their first-round opponents were the team promoted to the Football League via the Conference play-offs.^[92] The second-round draw saw the award of a home tie against Gillingham. A 2nd-City derby was the result of the third-round draw, with Aston Villa the opponents at Villa Park.

League Cup match details

Round	Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Score F–A	Scorers	Attendance	Refs
First round	11 August 2015	Bristol Rovers	A	W	2–1	Maghoma 57' Shinnie 68'	5,650	[93]
Second round	25 August 2015	Gillingham	H	W	2–0	Thomas 35' 72'	9,275	[94]
Third round	22 September 2015	Aston Villa	A	L	0–1		34,442	[95]

Transfers

In

Date	Player	Club	Fee	Ref
18 May 2015	Alex Jones	(West Bromwich Albion)	Free	[96]
26 June 2015	Jacques Maghoma	(Sheffield Wednesday)	Free	[97]
27 June 2015	Adam Legzdins	(Leyton Orient)	Free	[98]
1 July 2015	Tomasz Kuszczak	(Wolverhampton Wanderers)	Free	[99]
27 July 2015	Maikel Kieftenbeld	Groningen	Undisclosed	[100]
10 August 2015	Noe Baba	(Fulham)	Free	[101]
21 August 2015	Nicolai Brock-Madsen	Randers FC	Undisclosed	[102]
9 September 2015	Shane Lowry	(Leyton Orient)	Free	[103]
29 September 2015	Emmanuel Mbende	(Borussia Dortmund)	Free	[104]
19 January 2016	Luke Maxwell	Kidderminster Harriers	£75,000	[105]
27 January 2016	Diego Fabbrini	Watford	£1.5 million	[106]

Brackets around club names indicate the player's contract with that club had expired before he joined Birmingham.

Out

Date	Player	Club	Fee	Ref
1 September 2015	Nick Townsend	Barnsley	Undisclosed	[107]
4 January 2016	Demarai Gray	Leicester City	Undisclosed	[108]
27 January 2016	Shane Lowry	(Perth Glory)	Contract cancelled by mutual consent	[109]

Loan in

Date	Player	Club	Return	Ref
30 July 2015	Jon Toral	Arsenal	End of season	[110]
26 November 2015	James Vaughan	Huddersfield Town	End of season	[111][112]
26 November 2015	Greg Halford	Rotherham United	2 January 2016	[111]
15 January 2016	Will Buckley	Sunderland	End of season	[113]
28 January 2016	Ryan Shotton	Derby County	End of season	[114]
24 March 2016	Kyle Lafferty	Norwich City	End of season	[115]

Loan out

Date	Player	Club	Return	Ref
3 July 2015	Mark Duffy	Burton Albion	End of season	[116]
31 July 2015	Denny Johnstone	Greenock Morton	End of season	[117]
4 August 2015	Nick Townsend	Barnsley	Made permanent 1 September 2015	[107][118]
10 August 2015	David Edgar	Sheffield United	End of season	[119]
14 August 2015	Lee Novak	Chesterfield	End of season	[120]
1 September 2015	Wes Thomas	Swindon Town	January 2016	[121]
2 October 2015	Mitch Hancox	Crawley Town	2 January 2016	[122]
10 November 2015	Alex Jones	Grimsby Town	12 December 2015	[123]
12 January 2016	Kyle McFarlane	Nuneaton Town	12 February 2016	[124]
19 January 2016	Luke Maxwell	Kidderminster Harriers	End of season	[105]
23 January 2016	Charlie Cooper	Forest Green Rovers	One month	[125]
27 January 2016	Andrew Shinnie	Rotherham United	7 May 2016	[126]
29 January 2016	Wes Thomas	Bradford City	93 days	[127]
31 January 2016	Alex Jones	Wellington Phoenix	Administratively cancelled 16 February 2016[upper-alpha 1]	[130]
12 February 2016	Wes McDonald	Nuneaton Town	One month	[131]
1 March 2016	Perry Cotton	Kettering Town	2 May 2016	[132]
18 March 2016	David Popa	Kettering Town	End of season	[133]

1. The move fell through when New Zealand Football failed to forward the completed paperwork to FIFA before the transfer deadline despite receiving it from the Phoenix three days previously.^[128] An appeal failed when FIFA "ruled to protect the integrity of their global deadlines for the transfer of players".^[129]

Appearances and goals

Sources:^[134][135]

Numbers in parentheses denote appearances as substitute.

Players with name and squad number struck through and marked left the club during the playing season.

Players with names in italics and marked * were on loan from another club for the whole of their season with Birmingham.

Players listed with no appearances have been in the matchday squad but only as unused substitutes.

Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; DF – Defender; MF – Midfielder; FW – Forward

Players included in matchday squads

No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Total		Discipline
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	ENG	Adam Legzdins	4	0	1	0	2	0	7	0	0	0
2	DF	WAL	Neal Eardley	5	0	1	0	2	0	8	0	2	0
3	DF	ENG	Jonathan Grounds	44	1	1	0	2	0	47	1	7	0
4	DF	ENG	Paul Robinson	19 (5)	3	0	0	2	0	21 (5)	3	4	0
6	MF	NED	Maikel Kieftenbeld	40 (1)	3	1	0	2	0	42 (1)	3	9	0
7	MF	ENG	Demarai Gray	22 (2)	1	0	0	1 (1)	0	24 (3)	1	1	0
7	MF	ITA	Diego Fabbrini	6 (7)	0	0	0	0	0	6 (7)	0	2	0
8	MF	IRL	Stephen Gleeson	42 (1)	5	0	0	2	0	44 (1)	5	8	0
9	FW	ENG	Clayton Donaldson	37 (2)	11	0	0	1	0	39 (2)	11	4	0
10	FW	ENG	Wes Thomas	0	0	0	0	2	2	2	2	0	0
11	MF	WAL	David Cotterill	23 (5)	3	1	0	0	0	24 (5)	3	4	0
12	DF	ENG	Mitch Hancox	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0
15	FW	ENG	James Vaughan *	5 (9)	0	1	0	0	0	6 (9)	0	3	0
16	MF	ENG	Charlee Adams	0 (1)	0	0	0	0	0	0 (1)	0	0	0
17	MF	ENG	Viv Solomon-Otabor	2 (19)	1	1	0	0 (2)	0	3 (21)	1	0	0
18	MF	ENG	Reece Brown	0 (1)	0	0	0	0 (1)	0	0 (2)	0	0	0
19	MF	COD	Jacques Maghoma	25 (15)	5	0 (1)	0	3	1	28 (16)	7	1	0
20	MF	ESP	Jon Toral *	28 (8)	8	0 (1)	0	0 (1)	0	28 (10)	8	6	1
21	FW	ENG	Lee Novak	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	1	0
22	MF	SCO	Andrew Shinnie	5 (9)	0	1	0	2	1	8 (9)	1	1	0
23	DF	USA	Jonathan Spector	21 (3)	0	1	0	2 (1)	0	24 (4)	0	2	0
24	MF	GHA	Koby Arthur	0	0	0	0	1 (1)	0	1 (1)	0	0	0
25	DF	AUS	Shane Lowry	1	0	0 (1)	0	0	0	1 (1)	0	1	0
25	FW	NIR	Kyle Lafferty *	4 (2)	1	0	0	0	0	4 (2)	1	3	0
26	MF	ENG	David Davis	22 (12)	1	1	0	3	0	26 (12)	1	6	0
27	GK	ENG	Connal Trueman	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
28	DF	ENG	Michael Morrison	45	3	1	1	2	0	47	4	5	0
29	GK	POL	Tomasz Kuszczak	41	0	0	0	1	0	42	0	1	0
30	MF	ENG	Will Buckley *	5 (5)	1	0	0	0	0	5 (5)	1	0	0
31	DF	SCO	Paul Caddis	37 (2)	4	0	0	1	0	38 (2)	5	7	0
32	DF	ENG	Ryan Shotton *	9	1	0	0	0	0	9	1	0	0
44	FW	DNK	Nicolai Brock-Madsen	3 (3)	0	0	0	0 (2)	0	3 (5)	0	0	0
45	DF	ENG	Greg Halford *	0 (3)	0	0	0	0	0	0 (3)	0	0	0

Players not included in matchday squads

No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name
5	DF	CAN	David Edgar
14	FW	ENG	Alex Jones

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