Birmingham Post

ALBION NEWS Sun shines on Blues as record buy is tipped to be hot stuff

- Paul Suart Football Writer

CLUB-RECORD signing Ivan Sunjic has all the attributes to lift his new Blues teammates to another level, Pep Clotet claimed.

Sunjic, a £6.25 million on signing from Dinamo o Zagreb last month, made his full debut in Saturday’s 1-1 Championsh­ip draw with Bristol City at St Andrew’s.

And while it was fellow new signing Fran Villalba who received all the post-match plaudits, Sunjic’s contributi­on was not lost on Clotet, who o believes the Croatian will ll raise the standard of those ose around him.

“Sunjic’s positionin­g was as very good,” said Blues’ caretaker head coach. “It helps and gives confidence to the midfield and backline because they know his position is very good.

“What makes (David) Davis very confident as well is when you support

him in that role. They partnered together very well and we saw a very good Davis.

“Then, that helped us to use (Gary) Gardner to be best of his abilities as a box-to-b box-to-box player. It was a false wing position that allowed him to move more freely.”

L Lukas Jutkiewicz’s first go goal of the season was c cancelled out seven minutes from time by Tommy Rowe’s arrowed strike.

Despite conceding so late on, Clotet saw more than enough to feel enthused about his team’s prospects this t term.

“The passion was th there, they were aggressive sive, linking up well and trying to cause as many problem problems as possible,” he said. “Jutkiewicz scoring his first goal of the season is also important for the team.

“A lot of positives, but I would be happier if we had taken all the points.

“Unfortunat­ely, the most important

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The presence of Ivan Sunjic helped David Davis, inset, to flourish in midfield
> The presence of Ivan Sunjic helped David Davis, inset, to flourish in midfield
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Pep Clotet
> Pep Clotet

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