Blues draw at home to Stoke City. Andy Munro reflects.
Due to an own goal from Phil Neumann, Blues ended all square against Stoke and to be fair to the Potters, they deserved a share of the spoils against a slightly misfiring opposition.
The home side seemed to lack any real zip in the first half and were quickly closed down by a Stoke side full of fringe players eager to make an impression. However, Christoph Klarer repeatedly won aerial duels and Tomoki Iwata overlapped on numerous occasions and, given his impressive work rate, he deserved his goal following a set piece.
Unfortunately in front of them, Paik Seung-ho seemed a little flat in his game although fellow midfielder Tommy Doyle put in a decent shift. Further forward, Jay Stansfield worked his proverbial socks off but certainly needs a goal. His partner, Marvin Ducksch also worked hard but looked a little one paced.
New man Ibrahim Osman delivered some strong running, although his final pass was a bit erratic; hopefully he will improve on his consistency and it has to be also borne in mind that he has had very little playing time before coming to the Blues. Jhon Solis came on to play in the centre of midfield and did his opportunities no harm with a decently robust performance.
Another newbie was August Priske, who was eager to impress but whilst he won most of his heading duels, he looked a little lightweight being shrugged off the ball and going down a little too easy. However, this was his first introduction to the hurly burly of Championship football so hopefully he will become more robust.
This wasn’t a bad point but the home fans expected three points, so yet again Blues find themselves in the mid-table morass rather than challenging directly for a play-off position. However, it’s early days for the new players to bed in but until then the jury has to be out regarding this latest batch of signings. Craig Gardner’s or Chrissy Davies’? You tell me.
