THE DUKE’S MISSION AT BLUES...
Striker aims to lead way
STRIKER Lukas Jutkiewicz has vowed to do everything in his power to turn Birmingham City from draw specialists into serial winners.
Last Tuesday’s 1-1 draw at Brentford, all the more creditable considering the Blues had midfielder Maikel Kieftenbeld controversially sent off midway through the second half, made it an incredible eight draws from their opening 11 games.
The St Andrew’s outfit had won just once (a stunning 2-1 victory at Leeds) and lost twice – to Middlesbrough and Bolton – heading into yesterday’s home clash against Rotherham. It meant they were unbeaten in seven Championship games.
But with just 11 points in the bag from the same number of games – and the threat of a 12-point deduction for allegedly breaking Financial Fair Play hanging over them – Birmingham need as many threepoints hauls as they can get to move away from the division’s lower reaches.
Jutkiewicz, who netted twice as the Blues hit back to draw against Ipswich last weekend, said: “Yes, it’s pleasing to score goals, but we need to turn these draws into wins and if I can help all the better. I want to help improve the team.
“It’s difficult to put your finger on why we’ve had so many draws. We’re in all the games and giving ourselves a chance to pick up points every single game that we play.
“Having said that, you can flip it the other way and say that there’s a real desire and resolve in our team not to get beat. It would have been easy to fold against Brentford and lose the game considering what happened, but we stood strong.”
Skilful
If Birmingham are going to start climbing the table, then they will more than likely need winger Jota to spark. The skilful Spaniard joined the Blues from Brentford a little over a year ago for a club record fee in excess of £6m, but is only now starting to show his full repertoire of skills in the Midlands.
In a well-organised Birmingham side, the 27-yearold is the one who gives them extra attacking flair. Jutkiewicz is a fan. “Jota is a fantastic player,” said ‘The Duke’. “He showed again against Brentford the ability he’s got. We’re grateful that we’ve got him in our side because he’s got real quality in the attacking third. “It’s not just his technical ability, he works his socks off for the team as well.” And that willingness to graft was on show in abundance as Birmingham made light of Kieftenbeld’s disputed dismissal in an off-the-ball clash with Bees hot-shot Neal Maupay to eke out a midweek draw. Blues boss Garry Monk was also shown red for his protests over the sending off.
“It doesn’t look good on their centre-forward,” added Jutkiewicz. “It certainly wasn’t enough for him to be rolling around on the floor. It’s not great to see.
“We had to dig in deep, particularly going down to ten men. Brentford are a passing side who keep the ball really well, so you have to do a lot of work in your shape even
when it’s 11 v 11.
Context
“We had to work that little bit harder when we went down to ten men. A point down here is a good result considering the context of the game.” As for what Birmingham can achieve this season, the 29-year-old target man is cautious. “I don’t think you look past the next game, as clichéd as it sounds,” said the former Coventry and Middlesbrough hitman. “There are so many clubs in this league that are so similar that you just try and put points on the board in as many games as you can and see where it takes you. There’s no point looking at the bigger picture.”