Birmingham City are next up for Lincoln City at Sincil Bank, with a possible 4-2-3-1 starting XI featuring senior internationals, Premier League loanees and several members of their League One title-winning side.
James Beadle (Goalkeeper)
James Beadle came through Charlton Athletic’s academy before joining Brighton & Hove Albion in 2022. His first senior football came on loan at Crewe Alexandra, followed by spells with Oxford United and Sheffield Wednesday, where he returned for a second stint in 2024/25.
He first joined Birmingham on loan in July 2025 and returned for another season this summer after signing a new four-year Brighton contract. Beadle also started for England in the final of the 2025 European Under-21 Championship as they won the trophy.
Bright Osayi-Samuel (Right-back)
Bright Osayi-Samuel began his professional career with Blackpool, making his debut in March 2015. He made 79 appearances for the Seasiders before joining Queens Park Rangers in 2017, where he scored 13 goals in 115 games across all competitions.
A move to Fenerbahce followed in January 2021, and he made 120 Turkish league appearances before returning to England with Birmingham in July 2025. Osayi-Samuel is also a Nigeria international and was part of their squad that finished runners-up at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
Phil Neumann (Centre-back)
Phil Neumann joined Schalke’s academy as a seven-year-old and progressed into their reserve side before moving to Ingolstadt in 2017. He subsequently joined Holstein Kiel in 2019, making 72 league appearances during three seasons with the club.
Hannover signed the defender in 2022, and he played 94 league games for them before moving to Birmingham in July 2025. Neumann had agreed the switch on a pre-contract earlier that year, while his international experience includes appearances for Germany at Under-19 and Under-20 level.
Christoph Klarer (Centre-back)
Christoph Klarer spent part of his youth career with Rapid Vienna before joining Southampton in 2016. He gained senior experience on loan at St Polten, then moved to Fortuna Dusseldorf in 2020, making 74 league appearances for the German club.
A transfer to Darmstadt followed in 2023, where he played 30 Bundesliga matches before Birmingham brought him back to English football in July 2024. Klarer helped the Blues win the League One title in his first season and was selected in the PFA League One Team of the Year.
Alex Cochrane (Left-back)
Alex Cochrane developed in Brighton’s academy and gained early senior experience on loan at East Grinstead Town. Further loans took him to Union Saint-Gilloise and Hearts, with the Scottish club signing him permanently in June 2022 after his first season at Tynecastle.
Cochrane made 125 appearances for Hearts across his loan and permanent spells, including a start in the 2022 Scottish Cup final. He joined Birmingham in July 2024 and helped them win League One, earning a place in the PFA Team of the Year alongside Klarer.
Tomoki Iwata (Central midfield)
Tomoki Iwata began his professional career with Oita Trinita, making 113 league appearances before joining Yokohama F. Marinos in 2021. He helped Yokohama win the Japanese title in 2022 and was named the J.League’s Player of the Year that season.
Celtic initially signed him on loan before making the move permanent in July 2023, and he made 32 Scottish Premiership appearances across those spells. The Japan international joined Birmingham in August 2024 and was another member of their promotion-winning side selected in the PFA League One Team of the Year.
Jhon Solis (Central midfield)
Jhon Solis began with Racing de Guacari before joining Atletico Nacional’s academy and progressing into their first team in 2022. Girona signed him in September 2023, and his time in Spain brought 61 first-team appearances, including five in the Champions League.
He joined Birmingham on loan in January 2026 before the Blues exercised their purchase option to make the deal permanent from July 1. Solis also made his senior Colombia debut earlier this month, having previously represented his country at youth level.
Patrick Roberts (Right wing)
Patrick Roberts made his senior debut for Fulham in 2014 before joining Manchester City the following year. His City career included loans with Celtic, Girona, Norwich City, Middlesbrough, Derby County and Troyes, with his Celtic spells bringing three Scottish league titles.
He joined Sunderland permanently in January 2022 and scored their decisive goal against Sheffield Wednesday in that season’s League One play-off semi-final. Birmingham initially signed Roberts on loan in September 2025 before making the move permanent in February 2026 on a two-and-a-half-year contract.
Max Bird (Attacking midfield)
Max Bird came through Derby County’s academy and made his senior debut at 16 in September 2017. He went on to make 200 appearances for the Rams, scoring ten goals and becoming the club’s vice-captain.
Bristol City signed him in February 2024 but loaned him back to Derby, where he scored in the promotion-clinching win against Carlisle United on his final appearance. Bird subsequently made 61 league appearances for the Robins before joining Birmingham on a three-year contract in August 2026.
Liam Millar (Left wing)
Liam Millar spent time in Fulham’s academy before joining Liverpool, where he made one senior appearance in the FA Cup. Loans with Kilmarnock and Charlton Athletic followed before he moved permanently to Basel in 2021.
He scored five goals in 35 league appearances on loan at Preston North End in 2023/24 before joining Hull City in August 2024. The Canada international, who has been selected for the 2022 and 2026 World Cups, joined Birmingham on loan in September.
Jay Stansfield (Striker)
Jay Stansfield began in Exeter City’s academy before joining Fulham in 2019. He returned to Exeter on loan in 2022/23, scoring nine league goals, before spending the following campaign with Birmingham, where he scored 12 times in the Championship and won their Player of the Season award.
Birmingham made the move permanent in August 2024 for a reported initial fee of £15 million, a record for a League One club. Stansfield scored 19 league goals as the Blues won promotion in 2024/25 and was also part of England’s European Under-21 Championship-winning squad that summer.
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