Birmingham City

Birmingham City’s Christoph Klarer says failure to receive a call up from Austria isn’t a huge setback for him.

The 25-year-old has represented Austria at various youth level from U15s to U21s earlier in his career.

However, the Birmingham City captain is yet to receive a call up from the senior team and Austria manager Ralf Rangnick didn’t consider him again for this international break.

The centre-back joined the Championship side from Darmstadt 98 in July 2024. The move allowed him to return to England, where he spent four years, between 2016 and 2020, at Southampton.

He made 39 appearances for Chris Davies’ side this season and that includes 36 starts in the Championship. The Austrian’s stats per game in the league are as follows.

• Interceptions: 1.3
• Tackles: 1.0
• Clearances: 7.2
• Duels won: 7.2
• Ball recovered: 3.9
• Dribbled past: 0.3
• Blocked shots: 0.5

Despite his overall impressive form for the Blues, he hasn’t fully convinced Rangnick yet.

No contact with Birmingham City star

Sky in Austria interviewed Christoph Klarer to find out his views on failng to receive a national team call up.

“I’m not disappointed. I’m trying to make the best of it....