This article is part of Football FanCast's In The Pipeline series, which takes a look at some of the most promising young talent either linked with clubs or emerging from their academies...

Another name on the production line?

Whilst the Blues U23 squad were knocked out of the Birmingham Senior Cup on Tuesday night, there was one name that stood out above the rest of the team, and that was young midfielder Jack Concannon.

If you were to read the Birmingham City Twitter account during the game last night, you’d be forgiven for thinking that he was the only player doing anything for the Blues.

The youngster was mentioned three times in the first half alone, gliding past defenders and 'making things happen.'

He was instrumental in the Blues’ goal on the night, picking up the ball near halfway and driving through midfield where his shot was rebounded in by Ryan Stirk.

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A central midfielder by trade, Concannon isn’t scared of getting forward and joining in with the attack.

He’s started to make a bit of a name for himself in the U23 squad this season, finding the back of the net twice, against Sheffield United with a ‘fine strike’ and another against Leeds United.

It wouldn’t be as if a move like this was without precedent either, Odin Bailey was making good progress in the U23 side earlier in the season.

He netted against Ipswich Town, Charlton Athletic and Crystal Palace and he managed to get a few appearances in the team out of it. The teenager even managed to score against Middlesbrough for the senior side a couple of weeks ago.

Not just Bailey, but the emergence of Jude Bellingham as a regular in the first team shows that Pep Clotet isn’t scared at dipping into the academy when he has to this season of he believes that they can help the team out.

We’ve discussed in the past that a tweak in formation to more of a 4-3-2-1 for the first team could be a way to get the best out of the squad.

Having two men playing off Lukas Jutkiewicz rather than just one alongside him suggests Concannon can certainly fill that role. Even if Clotet doesn’t want to make that tweak just yet, he can still do the same role in the 4-4-2 that he’s currently using.

So there’s a spot ready and waiting for him in the team, it’s just a case of when not if he’s going to be in a position to take it.