Gary Rowett will judge Dion Sanderson on his form after Birmingham City fined and stripped him of the captain’s armband after his drink-driving indiscretion.
Sanderson is due to appear in court next week on a drink-driving charge after an incident in the aftermath of Blues’ victory over Coventry City. The defender kept his place in Blues’ line-up at Rotherham last week but John Ruddy skippered the side and is expected to retain the armband for the final two matches.
West Midlands Police reported the incident to Blues early last week and the club subsequently disciplined Sanderson. The 24-year-old apologised to his teammates before partnering Krystian Bielik at the back against Rotherham.
Rowett has a decision to make on Sanderson before Blues’ crucial Championship clash with relegation rivals Huddersfield Town on Saturday. The fit-again Marc Roberts and Emanuel Aiwu present Rowett with alternative options in defence.
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“I have got to judge the players available and how they’ve trained all week,” interim Blues manager Rowett said. “We spoke about the incident straight away, we spoke about the standards we have as a club regardless of the situation on the pitch, and we have tried to make the best decision possible.
“We didn’t feel like the actions should be representative of being the captain, at least short term, we felt there needed to be a disciplinary in terms of being fined. He was quite open about apologising to the rest of the players.
“He made a mistake. Young players can make a mistake, fortunately for him it wasn’t any worse than that. We move on and he will be judged on his form like everyone else.”
