Birmingham City now have four undroppables as Scott Hogan replacements listed
Alex Dicken lists his talking points following Birmingham City’s 1-1 draw with Millwall in the Championship
Birmingham City are riding high in the Championship heading into the first international break of the season.
John Eustace’s team maintained their unbeaten start to the league campaign with a 1-1 draw against Millwall on Saturday. Jay Stansfield provided the rescue act in the second half after one-time Blues target Kevin Nisbet had netted an early free-kick for Millwall.
Blues dropped a place to fourth in the Championship due to results elsewhere, but 11 points from the opening five games is an excellent return. Eustace will give his players a brief breather before the hard work continues on the training ground in preparation for Watford.
We shouldn’t be surprised. Eustace is a master at blocking out the noise and won’t let his players get caught up in the excitement.
When the fixtures were announced in June, an opening quintet against Swansea, Leeds, Bristol City, Plymouth and Millwall were looked upon favourably. Racking up points from those fixtures was always going to be easier said than done, but Blues have managed to set themselves up nicely.
Trips to Watford, top-of-the-table Preston and free-scoring Norwich City are coming up shortly, with Queens Park Rangers and West Brom due to visit St Andrew’s in the next batch of fixtures. QPR’s fall from grace last season made a mockery of the ‘see where you are after 10 games’ cliche, but the next five should give us a more accurate indication of what this Blues side can actually achieve in 2023/24.
Buchanan has become undroppable
Such is the competition for places in this Blues squad, very few players genuinely fall into the ‘undroppable’ category. Goalkeeper John Ruddy, captain Dion Sanderson and Krystian Bielik are the irreplaceable core.
But there is now an argument to suggest Lee Buchanan is closing in on that status. Irrespective of whether Blues play a back four or a back five – which is now an option after Emanuel Aiwu’s arrival – Buchanan is a certain starter.
The 22-year-old is rarely beaten defensively and has the speed and skill to cause problems on the overlap. Tough-tackling left-back Buchanan has already made himself integral to Blues’ set-up.
Potential penalty takers
Scott Hogan’s days of taking penalties are surely numbered after his miss against Millwall. With Lukas Jutkiewicz – who netted from the spot against Leeds – sitting in the stands, Hogan resumed penalty taking responsibilities despite missing his last one at Wigan in March.
Eustace had no qualms about Hogan taking it, but he has admitted that a conversation over whether Blues’ number nine takes the next one could be in the offing. Hogan has missed five of his seven career penalties.
Jutkiewicz is on the bench more often than not, so Blues will need to find an alternative who is more regularly on the field. Stansfield has shown his finishing capabilities already, while Juninho Bacuna was interested in wrestling the ball from Hogan before his Millwall miss. Siriki Dembele could be an option, too. Blues no longer have a specialist after the days of Lyle Taylor and Troy Deeney.
Keshi Anderson has gone under the radar this season. He has started all of Blues’ Championship games and led the fight against Millwall.
We have raved about the talents of Dembele, Stansfield and Koji Miyoshi in recent weeks, but Anderson has been at the forefront of Blues’ positive play in their last two Championship matches.
Having arrived on a free transfer via a trial spell, Anderson wasn’t greeted by the fanfare that the others received. When we all scribble down our strongest Blues XIs on paper, Anderson’s name is sometimes overlooked. He is proving it shouldn’t be.
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