Tough time in Store for Donaldson, warns skipper

PAUL Robinson suggested that Clayton Donaldson may have some serious competition for the striker jersey with Jack Storer hot on his heels.

The youngster netted twice in Tuesday night’s 4-0 win over Kidderminster to cap a red-hot pre-season campaign.

With Blues still in the hunt for a striker before the end of the transfer window, club captain Robinson pointed to Storer as a direct rival to Gary Rowett’s first-choice centre forward.

Robinson said: “What a great goalscoring record and maybe Clayts should be looking over his shoulder a little bit – I would.

“He’s put the gaffer in a difficult position because even if he’s not involved, he can be on the bench at some point and come on and liven a few players up, because he’s got that attitude like me – he likes to get stuck in. I like him a lot.”

Very much the experienced head in a youthful squad, Robbo admitted his enjoyment at playing with the likes of Dan Cleary and Josh Cogley at the back.

Cleary was impressive after arriving recently on a free from Liverpool, and played alongside Robinson as part of an experimented 3-5-2 formation.

“We’ve gone the Italian way, nice and tight!” he joked. “It’s different – I’ve played it before under an Italian manager so I know it’s that sort of formation. I thought we did it fantastically well – the lads listened to what the gaffer had to say and went about their job perfectly.

“Coggs is a great athlete with a great attitude and I love working with him. Hopefully now this will give him a great springboard for the season, where he can go on, play some games and do really well.

“Young Daniel has just come in – I thought he was excellent.”