Blues succumbed to a sixth consecutive defeat in all competitions at home to Preston North End, a defeat which signaled the end of Harry Redknapp’s short reign in charge. It was a torrid second half from Blues who were overran by Preston in every department. Here are my player ratings from the game.
- St Andrews – Birmingham v Preston
Starting XI
Stockdale – 5
Another game passes without a clean sheet for the former Brighton man who only has one all season, didn’t really have any chance with any of the Preston goals and was left watching his defence fall apart in front of him.
Nsue – 5
Decent enough first half but couldn’t really get going in the second half. When he was on the ball he tried to get Blues going but couldn’t really keep that going into the second half where Blues spent most of the half defending.
Dean – 4
A very difficult home debut for the former Brentford man. Looked very nervous in the first half with a few rash clearances, and unfortunately it didn’t improve after the break. At fault for the first Preston goal where he should have been a lot quicker to come out and close Daniel Johnson’s shot down.
Morrison – 3
A torrid afternoon for the Blues captain who really doesn’t look comfortable on the left hand side of the back two at all. Struggled in the first half and was all over the place in the second half. He struggled to organise the defence and it was clear to see that his partnership with Harlee Dean needs a lot of work.
Colin – 5
Opened his goalscoring account for Blues with a fantastically taken goal in the first half to put Blues ahead, with a fantastic bit of skill to beat his man. Crumbled alongside the rest of the Blues defence in the second half though. Really poor on the ball for the second Preston goal where he dwelled on the ball and lost possession on the edge of his own box.
N’Doye – 6
N’Doye is one of the few that comes away with any credit for me. His aerial presence was again useful for Blues with him winning 11 aerial duels, which helped push Blues forward in the first half. Didn’t have the same effect on the game in the second half but you couldn’t fault his effort.
Lowe – N/A
Taken off after 2 minutes injured, Harry Redknapp having to reshuffle his team yet again due to the ‘hamstring curse’.
Davis – 5
Another poor performance from last seasons player of the year, Davis seems to have struggled to bring last season’s form into this season. He failed to make any real impression on yesterday’s game and was very wasteful in possession. In my opinion he should be taken out of the team for next week’s game.
Boga – 6
Very impressive first half from the Chelsea loanee on his home debut. Showed no fear when in possession constantly trying to run at the Preston defence, which caused them a lot of problems in the first half. Faded slightly in the second half but a positive performance.
Maghoma – 6
Blues’ August player of the month was brought back into the team in place of the injured Jota. Maghoma usually picks up a lot of criticism for sometimes losing possession but a lot of times this is because he is the only Blues player trying to create anything in the final third.
Gallagher – 5
Another difficult afternoon up front on his own for Sam Gallagher. Unfortunately due to a lack of service from his teammates Gallagher has to spend most of his minutes on the pitch chasing down loose balls to no avail. Missed one good chance at the back post in the first half.
- St Andrews
Subs:
Man of the Match: Walsh – 6
Liam Walsh came on in the second minute for the injured Jason Lowe and looked incredibly composed on the ball for such a young lad. He kept Blues moving throughout the first half and used his impressive passing range to open up some dangerous opportunities for Blues. Probably our brightest player on the day.
Vassell – 5
Came on for Gallagher when Blues had just gone 2-1 down. Similar to Gallagher, Vassell had no real service and was left trying to create opportunities for himself chasing down loose balls.
Jutkiewicz – 5
Jutkiewicz was left in a similar situation to Vassell when he came on, only really having long balls up to him to try and create something from. Tried to get Blues moving forward but to no avail.
Preston Fans – 7
Attendance: 1,700
Preston fans finally had an opportunity to come to St Andrews on a Saturday afternoon for the first time for a while and they will no doubt have enjoyed their day out. Some good noise from them in the second half when the goals started coming.