Birmingham City talking points after the 1-1 draw with Swansea City on Saturday night
Patrick Roberts of Birmingham City (L) scores during the Sky Bet Championship match between Swansea City and Birmingham City at the Swansea.com Stadium(Image: )
Birmingham City battled to their first away point since November at Swansea City on Saturday night.
Patrick Roberts notched Blues’ equaliser in the second half in south Wales after Zan Vipotnik had given Swansea the lead in the first half.
The point ends a run of four away defeats on the spin for Blues and sets them up for a trip to basement side Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday.
Here are our talking points post-Swansea…
A starting point
The point and performance represents a huge improvement on the previous four Championship away games.
Blues shipped 11 goals in the previous four, scoring just two, and things came to a head in heavy away defeats to Sheffield United and Watford.
They couldn’t turn in a similar showing at Swansea and, thankfully, they didn’t.
Swansea had chances to add to Vipotnik’s goal and hit the woodwork three times, but Blues had moments of their own and looked most likely to win it after Roberts’ leveller.
Blues’ next target is an away victory and a trip to Hillsborough to face a Wednesday team that haven’t yet won at home all season.
Stansfield made the difference
Blues’ level improved after the introduction of Jay Stansfield in the 56th minute. The striker’s pressing power proved to be the catalyst for a more vibrant, attacking display.
Chris Davies commented: “Jay hasn’t trained a lot since Coventry so I was wary of throwing him in too early for his own sake and that obviously sets him up for the week ahead.
“He had the bit between his teeth, he looked sharp, dangerous and he gave us a lift, and there’s been some games where we haven’t had that off the bench, we’ve dropped when the subs have come on, but he gave us a lift.”
Is it alarming that Blues still have to rely on a half-fit Stansfield to dig them out of the mire? Possibly.
The adversity has galvanised Blues
Marvin Ducksch has elevated his level during this period of adversity, where Blues are ravaged by injuries and reshaping their squad, and others have followed.
Blues have wilted in difficult moments this season, particularly away from home when they’ve been under the cosh, but we have seen signs of growth since Watford.
Davies certainly thinks so. He said: “You can have too many players sometimes and we’ve obviously been light on numbers and players feel really needed and important. There’s a spirit that’s grown in this period.”
Birmingham City manager Chris Davies(Image: )
The squad needs strengthening
The above comment about Blues’ level dropping with substitutions tells you what Davies thinks of his bench at the moment.
In addition to Stansfield, Willum Willumsson joined the action in the 85th minute and Scott Wright would have come on had the game gone on for a few more minutes.
Swansea were able to introduce quality Championship players and Blues just don’t have that luxury right now.
The next week is crucial in terms of transfers. After the signing of Colombian midfielder Jhon Solis, Blues need a centre-back, a winger and a striker as a minimum.
What should be Blues’ next priority in the window? Let us know in the comments…