Monk knew Gary would be local hero

GARRY Monk insisted he never had any misgivings about bringing Gary Gardner across the city from Aston Villa.

The midfielder bagged his first goal for Blues in the victory over Reading – and his first at St Andrew’s since he scored against Blues for his parent club in October 2016.

Gardner swapped one West Midlands rival for another in the summer – a move which caused a stir on both sides of the city.

However, he has established himself as a key component in Monk’s machine – and won over the sceptics.

Just as Monk said he would. “Having seen Gards play, knowing what he can do, knowing that his brother is here, knowing he is a local lad in terms of the area, he knows what it all means,” the Blues boss said.

“I never had any doubt that he would come here and give everything he has got. That’s what he is doing and it’s fantastic to see.”

But as ever the Birmingham manager was keen to emphasise the collective over the individual as Blues moved to ninth in the table.

“I am delighted with the three points, a third win in a row for us, ten unbeaten at any stage in any league is a really hard thing to do.

“The first half we started very well for the first ten or 15 minutes, then the game became very even.

“We spoke at half time about a few things we needed to do a little bit better. Then in the second half I thought we were fantastic, we really stepped up. The effort and commitment in that second half was huge considering the game on Saturday.

“The amount of effort we put in on Saturday, physically, to then see that in the second half was fantastic.

“We got two really good goals, we had opportunities to score more. We were disappointed not to get the clean sheet, I thought Campy especially deserved the clean sheet, he was fantastic.

“But that’s a slight grumble. Three points, three wins in a row, ten unbeaten, that’s something to be proud of.”