Blues return with a draw at Blackpool. Andy Munro looks on.
With the Seasiders on a pre-World Cup losing streak, this looked a typical Blues’ banana skin. However, John Eustace’s team are a completely different proposition to the set-up that got thrashed by the same opposition last season.
Ruddy and the players in front of him as dominant were as usual, and our excellent defensive record was maintained. Further upfield Juninho Bacuna was his usual quality self whilst Beilik and Hannibal in particular looked refreshed, rather than tired by their World Cup exploits.
Up front, Troy Deeney continued to dominate in the air but with Scott Hogan absent he lacked a cutting edge partner. That’s maybe one optimistically to be rectified in the transfer window because Chong is wasted unless played out wide or in the hole behind the main strikers.
However, there are still many reasons to be cheerful and there could have been more if the referee hadn’t predictably given a 50:50 decision in favour of Blackpool rather than awarding a goal to Blues. However, what’s new?
