Birmingham City have been told they 'must' sign Rangers loanee Kieran Dowell on a permanent basis.
The Englishman moved to St. Andrew's on a temporary basis after he was deemed surplus to requirements at Ibrox in January.
Dowell has gone on to make 14 appearances for Birmingham since, scoring three goals and assisting one along the way.
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His team currently sit nine points clear of Wrexham at the top of English League One with two games in hand.
Birmingham are in pole position to gain promotion to the Championship, and ex-England international Lee Hendrie says they should sign Dowell permanently as they aim to go up: "They're coming out of League One into the Championship, they're going to need players like him [Dowell], and I think that will be the key to their success," he said (Football League World).
"If they can keep a good squad of players who can adapt and play in the Championship, I think he's definitely one that you'd think that they'd want to maybe keep on a permanent basis in the summer.
"Squad depth in the Championship is so key because of the relentless amount of games and that has been proven in League One as well for them.
"I do feel that they should keep Dowell on a permanent. There's still more to come from him, so keeping Dowell is a must."
Also on loan at Birmingham from Rangers is Ben Davies.
The central defender has made 36 appearances for the club this season and proved to be a key figure at the back as they aim to make it out of the third tier.
