HOT-SHOT CHE
Adams targets big rivals
CHE ADAMS is the talk of the town again – after a heart-toheart with Birmingham boss Garry Monk.
Blues striker Adams goes into tomorrow’s Second City derby on a red-hot streak of seven goals in his last nine games, having scored just once in his first nine.
He is reproducing the sort of exciting displays that once attracted 45 scouts to watch him when he was a teenage hotshot at non-league Ilkeston.
Spree
His name was also on everyone’s lips when he announced himself at Sheffield United with two goals in a League Cup semi-final against Tottenham in 2015.
Adams, 22, reckons a September pep-talk with Monk before his goal spree began with a match-winning bracCe a pivotal moment. He est I’ve ever been.
pklgejdof me and the gaffer spoke and he said ‘remember what you were doing back then, we feel like you went off it a bit but we want your name back out there and you doing well’.
“He has helped me grow into the player I have been this year and put the confidence in me. When I’ve not played that well he’s kept playing me. That’s important for a striker.
“The last couple of seasons it’s been stop-start. This year I’ve found my feet, I’m loving it and growing in confidence.
“I’m on the path to getting my name back out there again and hopefully I can do that.”
Adams, a hat-trick hero against Hull last time out, is one of Birmingham’s big hopes of ending their five-game goal drought at Villa Park where they have not won since 2004.
He said: “All week you get it from fans whether you’re in Tesco or just out on the streets.
“A couple came up to me the other day saying ‘if you score you won’t ever have to buy a drink in Birmingham again’.”