Manny Longelo was dropped from Birmingham City’s starting line-up at Bristol City, with Blues boss John Eustace claiming the West Ham United loanee’s performances have dipped a little bit recently.
The full-back has been a regular starter for the Championship side since returning from an ankle injury that ruled him out for four games following his arrival at St Andrew’s. Longelo has started 15 of Birmingham’s last 16 games, but was surprisingly omitted from the matchday squad entirely for the trip to Bristol City on Saturday.
But Longelo’s absence may have largely been down to the EFL rule that restricts clubs from naming only a maximum of five loan players in their matchday squad. Birmingham currently have six players on loan at the club and Eustace says it is a problem he has to work around.
