Hero Camp salutes his team-mates
JUST as he did with virtually everything aimed at his goal at Hillsborough, Birmingham City goalkeeper Lee Camp has deflected the praise for his performance at Sheffield Wednesday.
Both Garry Monk and Owls counterpart Lee Bullen identified Camp as the man of the match in the New Year’s Day draw, a result that extended Blues’ unbeaten run to five.
Che Adams cancelled out Steven Fletcher’s opener but Blues had Camp to be grateful to after the 34-year-old denied the Owls time and again, including with a double save from Atdhe Nuhiu and Sam Winnall as the game entered stoppage time.
But Camp, who made as many saves in one game as he had to in the previous three, preferred to focus on the efforts of those in front of him.
“I feel for the boys because I stand in goal, make a few saves and kick it about a bit,” he said.
“But they cover some distance, especially the midfield boys. The way we try to play with the intensity and pressing it’s a good shift and they deserve a lot of credit to keep going.
“That’s what I am there to do, that’s what you work for all week, there have been plenty of games when I have stood admired what’s gone on in front of me. It was my turn to do what I needed to do on Tuesday.”
Blues turn their attention to the FA Cup on Saturday when they make their first-ever trip to the London Stadium to play West Ham United.
Defender Kristian Pedersen could be back in contention after missing the last four matches.
He has been out since injuring his ankle in training in the build-up to the Wigan game but Monk is hoping the Dane could be available.
Striker Omar Bogle picked up a calf injury in Saturday’s draw with Brentford and tried training on Monday but broke down. It is not yet clear whether he will be fit.