Chris Davies wants to bring on-loan star Ibrahim Osman back to Birmingham

Birmingham manager Chris Davies wants to re-sign matchwinner and “special talent” Ibrahim Osman next season after a 2-1 win over Preston saw his side climb back into the Sky Bet Championship’s top 10.

Blues were 2-0 up inside the first 16 minutes after Osman made the first goal for Jay Stansfield then scored the second himself, before Andrew Hughes’ reply on 25 minutes.

Osman then departed in the 36th minute following an earlier clash of heads.

Asked if he would like to bring the 21-year-old winger back on a second loan from Brighton next season, Davies said: “Absolutely.

“The best place for him is somewhere where he is loved and will get minutes.

“I would love him to come back but there are a lot of moving parts.

“He is built for that (Premier League) level. The one thing you need is that physicality and he has that speed and power.

“He has that unpredictability in the way he moves his body which is difficult to stop, and when you combine that with the finish he has, then you are looking at a very special player.

“He’s a really special talent and I’m really pleased he’s added icing on the cake.”

Davies was happy with the performance, adding: “I was delighted with the start because we got into the ascendancy with the goals because we have started quickly here but that hasn’t always transpired into goals.”

Blues broke the deadlock in the 10th minute when Stansfield diverted home Osman’s goalbound shot from three yards.

Osman did the hard work, intercepting Pol Valentin’s pass before beating the right back on the byline and firing in a low, angled shot.

Six minutes later the winger made it 2-0, curling low from a similar position after cutting inside Jordan Thompson and leaving Liam Lindsay grounded. Like Stansfield, it also ended his 13-match wait for a goal.

Hughes chested home on the line after Alfie Devine’s goalbound corner was touched on by goalkeeper James Beadle.

Preston then wasted several chances to equalise after the break.

North End manager Paul Heckingbottom said: “There were a couple of big frustrations – the goals we conceded and the fact we couldn’t take one of the opportunities to take something from the game.

“That 10 minutes really knocked us but we regrouped and scored the next goal and got better and better, particularly in the second half.

“We have played worse than that away from home and won this season.

“We showed good desire attacking balls in the box but maybe we needed to show more guile to get in front of defenders.

“But we certainly had bodies in the box with intent and the pleasing thing was we created from good play and set-pieces.”