Blues beat Nottingham Forest 2-0 at home with Andy Munro watching contentedly.
This was no Robin Hood style steal because Blues thoroughly deserved this win despite prematch concerns that the dead hand of the Villa through Martin O’Neill and self-confessed rabid Villa fan Joe Lolley might do for them.
Mind you, this was never a canter and the overall convincing win was carved out with blood and cuts typified by man of the match Kleftenbeld. He was ably supported by the likes of Gary Gardner and text book sliding tackles from Maghoma who didn’t seem that he could tackle a fish supper under the likes of Zola, Rednapp and Cotterill.
Strangely enough if there was one player who didn’t particularly shine it was Che Adams, who is now under some pressure as a marked man now he is no longer under the footballing radar.
Next to Kleftenbeld, Jutkiewicz must have been a candidate for man of the match as he gave the Forest defenders a torrid time, winning most headers and shielding and laying off the ball with aplomb. Jota also buzzed around in a slightly more central role and took his goal superbly exposing Pantilimon as a giant keeper who can take crosses like apples off a tree but goes down in stages for daisy cutters.
Almost as pleasingly the Blues defence were determined and successful in keeping a clean sheet despite Colin looking a bit awkward at times on his ‘wrong’ side. They held up well when Forest brought on their subs which included the free scoring Grabban, whilst in contrast Blues’ subs made a difference with Craig Gardner stiffening things up and Vassell’s exceptional pace and strength keeping the Forest defence out of their comfort zone.
The final icing on the cake was a textbook penalty converted by £20 million(?) player Che Adams to ensure a comfortable end to the match as we got back to winning ways.