Lee is smiles better for Luk

LUKAS JUTKIEWICZ has backed caretaker boss Lee Carsley to turn Birmingham’s season round.

The striker said Carsley has restored smiles after a run of six successive defeats which led to Harry Redknapp’s sacking.

Jutkiewicz scored with his first touch seconds after being sent on as a second half sub, only for Derby’s Sam Winnall to salvage a point.

Carsley has six games to transform Blues.

“Every manager or coach has their own ideas, and you could probably see from the way we played that things have been changed,” said Jutkiewicz.

“We’ve worked hard, we’ve worked well and we’ve worked with a smile on our faces.

“It’s an important step forward, but now we have to build on that. I don’t know what’s been said behind the scenes or whether it’s something Lee wants to do long-term, but he’s a brilliant coach and a great human being.”

Carsley’s introduction of Jutkiewicz proved to be a masterstroke.

But former Blues boss Gary Rowett’s bold move to send on Mason Bennett and Winnall also produced an immediate response.

Northern Ireland international Chris Baird admits Derby are puzzled by the inconsistent start to the season.

“We know we were nowhere near our best and we can perform much better than that,” he said.

“It’s frustrating because we wanted to bounce back from the two bad away defeats and reproduce the form we showed in our last home game against Hull.”