"That’s not being disrespectful" - Chris Davies issues honest Birmingham City, EFL claim | OneFootball

Only three Blues players were named in the official Team of the Season

Birmingham City manager Chris Davies believes the EFL's official League One Team of the Season could have been filled by 11 of his record-breaking squad.

Blues have gained a ridiculous amount of media attention for their exploits on and off-the-pitch in the third-tier this term, which culminated with the highest of high points on Wednesday night as they became holders of the EFL's highest-ever points tally, with a 2-0 success at Blackpool taking their total to 108, two clear of Reading's exploits in the Championship 19 years ago.

Sandwiched in between a memorable 4-0 win against Mansfield Town on Sunday and the midweek trip to Bloomfield Road was the EFL's award ceremony in London, in which Davies swiftly made it from the trophy lift and post-match celebrations at St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park to be given the accolade of League One Manager of the Year, just 10 months after taking the 'number one' role in the dugout for the first time.

However, as has become the norm in such circumstances, the governing body's eventual picks when it came to the best 'XI' throughout the campaign did cause a stir among Bluenoses, as only Christoph Klarer, Alex Cochrane and Tomoki Iwata were awarded spots, with plenty of stars in royal blue missing out.

Chris Davies drops claim on League One Team of the Season as Blues stars omitted

As well as reflecting upon his side's momentous achievement on the Fylde Coast, Davies was asked for his thoughts on the aforementioned awards, stating that his individual success was down to a collective effort, as the likes of Jay Stansfield, Paik Seung-Ho and 'Golden Glove' winner, Ryan Allsop, were not selected in the Team of the Season.

"Quite frankly, it could have been a team of Birmingham players. That’s not being disrespectful, that’s just the level that some of them have played to this season," he told Birmingham Live.

“Credit to the other players that got in there and the winners of the other awards," Davies added.

“When I picked up my award it was really for us all, it was recognition for staff and players, because they can’t give us everything.”

The aforementioned Allsop has been one of Davies' most astute signings this season after joining from Hull City last summer, with his distribution, in particular, catching the eye on several occasions.

The boyhood Bluenose has also accumulated a league-high 21 shutouts in 37 games, which will be at least two ahead of Wrexham's Arthur Okonkwo and Wigan Athletic's Sam Tickle, with the latter being selected between the sticks by panelists in the Team of the Season.

Tickle has an extremely bright future ahead of him, with the 23-year-old previously catching the attention of Arsenal and Manchester United, whilst the Latics hold the joint-third-best defence in the division with 41 concessions, despite finding themselves as low as 16th.

Therefore, the Blues 'keeper stated he wasn't overly fussed when it came to losing out on a place.

“It’s something I try not to get caught up on to be honest,” he explained. “Congratulations to Sam, he’s had a brilliant season as well. The main thing for me was team success and we got back to where we wanted to get to.

“It’s a special season regardless. The boys who got in the Team of the Year massively deserve it, so it’s nice recognition for them.”

Birmingham City players have EFL points record above all to show for their efforts

Whilst individual recognition is an extremely satisfying feeling for any player, the reality is, not every player from the league leaders can be afforded a spot in the XI, with the likes of Richard Kone, Davis Keillor-Dunn, Max Cleworth and Kwame Poku - who is the subject of a potential £30,000 per week contract offer from Blues as exclusively revealed by FLW - all enjoying fine seasons of their own.

However, none of those players can say they were a part of the side which achieved the highest points total in EFL and English football history as a whole, which is a remarkable feat, regardless of the spending power Knighthead Capital Management have shown in B9 over the course of the season.

Birmingham can even add to that tally and break yet another record for the most wins in a season in the EFL, as they currently stand neck-a-neck with the Doncaster Rovers side of 1946/47, who also achieved 33 victories.