White-hot strike duo are lighting the Blues touchpaper
CHE Adams believes he and sizzling strike partner Lukas Jutkiewicz are only just warming up on the goal front.
The prolific pair have emerged as one of the hottest duos in the Championship with 15 goals between them in Blues’ last eight matches.
A first Championship hat-trick, in Saturday’s dramatic 3-3 draw with Hull City, means Adams is just one behind Jutkiewicz’s tally of nine for the season.
But he reckons he would not be half the player if it wasn’t for his treasured team-mate.
“Working with Jukey helps a lot and he’s improved my game as well,” the former Sheffield United hitman said.
“It’s working well with me and Jukey and we’re both chipping away with the goals. Hopefully there are more to come.
“Last year I played two or three games on the bounce and was then dropped. But I think I’m scoring more now because I’m getting more game-time. We all have a better understanding of our roles and what to do.”
A first-half brace from Adams had put Blues on course for a fourth successive home win.
That was until Hull striker Fraizer Campbell replied with his own double and Kamil Grosicki put the visitors ahead 17 minutes from time.
Blues were staring down the barrel of a first home defeat since March before Adams rescued a point six minutes from the end with his hat-trick strike.
While happy to take home the match ball, the celebrations were muted.
“It’s always nice to score, but we didn’t get the three points and that’s all that matters really,” he said.
“It’s bittersweet. In the first half we came out flying and got the two goals and were on the front foot.
“When we came in at half-time everybody was happy and buzzing. But we weren’t good enough in the second half. We weren’t picking up second balls and we weren’t doing a lot of things that Birmingham do. They got the sloppy three goals.”
Most teams would have caved in after Hull so quickly turned it round to hit the front.
But Blues have an inner resolve under Garry Monk and a determination to maintain their incredible unbeaten run on home soil.
Not since Monk’s first game in charge, against former club Middlesbrough, have Blues been beaten on their own patch.
The undefeated run at St Andrew’s started with a 3-0 win over Hull in March. And it was the Tigers who came within a whisker of ending that sequence.
“We ultimately showed a lot of character to get the (third) goal and get the draw,” Adams added.
“Some teams could have potentially lost that game, but you know what Birmingham are about and we kept going right to the end.”