Brace of deadline-day loan deals boost Blues
BIRMINGHAM signed Burnley Jutkiewicz on January 2.
And defender Rhoys Wiggins has joined from Bournemouth on a sixmonth loan deal.
Jutkiewicz has recently returned to full fitness after suffering a cruciate knee ligament injury at the start of last season
The 27-year-old has featured twice off the bench for the Clarets in the Premier League and started during their EFL Cup loss to Accrington Stanley.
Blues are believed to have beaten off competition from Championship rivals Ipswich Town to seal the deal.
Jutkiewicz began his career at Swindon, making a £1 million switch to Everton in 2007. He appeared only once for the Toffees before being sold to Coventry City in 2010 for an undisclosed fee.
A £1.3 million move to Middlesbrough followed and he went on to score 11 goals in 64 appearances at the Riverside before heading to Turf Moor for £1.5 million in July 2014. He is yet to score a competitive goal in his 35 appearances for the Clarets
At 6ft 1in, the former Southampton academy player can provide a sound physical presence up front for Gary Rowett.
Meanwhile, left-back Wiggins will provide competition for current first choice Jonathan Grounds.
Rowett has made finding a leftback his priority all summer and has now found his man.
Wiggins has signed for parent club Bournemouth four times during his career with spells at Charlton Athletic and Sheffield Wednesday featuring in the middle.
He has plenty of experience in the second tier and played a vital role in establishing Bournemouth they were promoted from One.
Wales boss Chris Coleman named him in a larger squad ahead of Euro City have striker Lukas loan until when League 2016 last year, although he did not make the final 23 for the tournament. BIRMINGHAM City striker Clayton Donaldson is delighted to have opened his account the season. Donaldson failed to score in his first five appearances of the season, but bagged a brace in Saturday’s 3-0 Championship victory over Norwich City at St Andrew’s. It makes him Blues’ joint two-goal top scorer with midfielder David for Davis, who also notched against the Canaries.
Donaldson missed a penalty at Wigan but was always confident of finding the net soon.
“It is always good to get up and running as a striker,” he said. “People start questioning situations but I’ve got every belief in my ability.
“I wasn’t worried too much, but it’s good to get off the mark and hopefully I can keep the goals coming.
“We created quite a few chances, which showed how well we played. There have been a few games where we haven’t created as many as we would have liked. To do that at home against Norwich is pleasing.”
Donaldson has been Blues’ top scorer for the past two seasons with . 11 goals last term and 16 the campaign before.
And Donaldson has saluted manager Gary Rowett for blocking out the early-season criticism.
Frustrations were growing at St Andrew’s following the derby defeat to Wolves, but Blues roared back with the victory over Norwich.
Donaldson praised Rowett for adhering to his tried and trusted managerial methods.
“That’s football,” said Donaldson. “You are going to get some fans who are not happy and you’ve got to stick to your guns.’’
Blues go into the international break eighth in the Championship, intent on eclipsing tenth-placed finishes in the past two seasons.