HOW CARDIFF RATED

STAR MAN: PETER WHITTINGHAM

As much the star man for his set-piece delivery as anything else, consistently putting the defence under pressure with pacey balls into the six-yard box. Tidy on 8 the ball and almost scored a screamer. DAVIDHad little MARSHALLto do in the first half but showedhis team his wobbled.class in Madethe second excellent half as stops from Fabbrini and Storer. 7 LEE Another PELTIER performance to suggest he is a naturalmake this third position centre-backhis own andin the will coming season, Faultless. 7 MATT CONNOLLY Classy on the ball and made a few promising surges forward. Picking up 7 where he left off from last season. BRUNO MANGA Grew into the game and was a major threat from set-pieces, but was caught out on a couple of occasions by Clayton Donaldson. Will improve with more match sharpness. 6 JAZZ RICHARDS A very steady showing from the full-back who doesn’t offer as much as his competition in attack but looks to be giving the defence a good balance. 6 DECLAN JOHN Faded a little in the second half but was an enterprising force in the first half and should have had an assist. Coped pretty well with a physical game and will be in line for an extended run on this form. 7 JOE RALLS Protected his team-mate well and worked really hard. Not quite as dominant in possession as he was against Bournemouth but rarely gave it away. 6 ANTHONY PILKINGTON Missed a big chance to open the scoring early as he tried to chip the keeper when one-on-one. Bright and smart in possession otherwise. 6 LEX IMMERS Almost broke the deadlock with a terrific effort that rocked the crossbar, and a great header in the first half deserved a goal too. Ran himself into the ground as he always does. 7 FREDERIC GOUNONGBE A horror miss in the first half will be difficult to forget but in fairness there was some good hold-up play and he didn’t shirk the fight. Can’t miss too many more of those open goals, however. 5 SUBSTITUTES Zohore (for Gounongbe 71) O’Keefe (for Ralls 82) Noone (for Pilkington 82) Not Used: (Moore gk); Morrison; Gunnarsson; Ajayi SCORERS None BOOKINGS Birmingham: Davis 25 REFEREE Tim Robinson (West Sussex) ATTENDANCE 19, 883 BIRMINGHAM Kuszczak; Spector, Morrison, Shotton, Grounds, Gleeson, Davis (Tesche 85), Cotterill (Brown 71), Fabbrini (Storer 70), Maghoma, Donaldson