What Chris Davies told Luke Harris in front of Birmingham City players as perfect response given
Birmingham City hammered Cambridge United 4-0 to record their biggest victory of the League One season on Tuesday night and pull clear in the promotion race.
Blues extended their lead over second-placed Wycombe Wanderers to seven points and are 11 clear of Wrexham, with a game-in-hand on both of them. Jay Stansfield’s penalty, Liam Bennett’s own goal, Kieran Dowell and Luke Harris sealed a stylish win for Blues.
Newcastle United might have ended Blues’ unbeaten run, but the last time Chris Davies’ side tasted defeat in League One was on November 23. Here are our talking points after the win over Cambridge…
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Chris Davies’ strong selection
Davies could have been forgiven for making changes after the humungous effort versus Newcastle on Saturday night, but he sent out a clear message by naming what is arguably his strongest XI for a clash with bottom-of-the-table Cambridge. With Paik Seung-ho back to partner Tomoki Iwata in midfield, Willum Willumsson back in the 10 and nobody rested, Cambridge were beaten before the game started.
“I always want to play the strongest team, but for this particular game I wanted to make sure there was a clear understanding of the significance of this game, back in the league again, at home, Cambridge aren’t the worst team in the league, so I knew there’d be a challenge there if we weren’t ready," said Davies. "I was really pleased with the response of the players.”
Seven clear, Blues are closing on the Championship
Blues have now won 20 games in League One this season which equals their league wins tally from 2011/12 when the club finished fourth in the Championship under Chris Hughton. The next target is the 23 wins Blues managed under Alex McLeish when they finished second in the Championship in 2008/09.
The records will continue to tumble as Blues swat their League One rivals away and pull clear. Seven points, with a game-in-hand, is extremely healthy at this stage of the season and the rate Blues are picking up points, they will be promoted with games to spare.
Ninety points is usually enough to guarantee one of the automatic promotion spots – Blues only need to win eight of their final 18 games to reach that total. Twelve wins and two draws from the final 18 would see Blues break the League One points record.
Dowell is an absolute delight
It was another masterful performance from Dowell who is fast becoming a fans’ favourite at St Andrew’s. The left-footed playmaker fired in his first Blues goal to make the game safe just before half-time before teasing and tormenting Cambridge after the break.
Dowell could have scored more, he might even have notched a hat-trick before half-time, but it is a joy to watch another technician who has no business being in League One. On this evidence, Dowell is worth signing for the Championship.
Davies singles Harris out
Davies tends to use his post-match debrief with his players to isolate individual moments and give praise where it’s due. Rookie midfielder Harris was given a special mention post-Cambridge.
Having been an unused substitute in the three previous league matches, Harris made it off the bench and had an instant impact to score his third goal of the season and first at St Andrew’s.
Davies said: “I made a special mention to Luke with the players after the game because he’s had to stay strong mentally. He’s a very young player on loan at a big club, he’s been in and out at times, it’s not easy but he trains so hard every day. He’ll run as much as everybody else every day, it’s never affected him.
“He has come in with the reputation of being a goalscoring midfield player and he does get into a lot of good positions in the box, but there’s been times when he hasn’t shown his quality. I remember the Wycombe goal was an important goal that he scored away from home. This one, he took it well on the thigh and then a really good quality finish into the corner.
“I really hope that does the world of good for his own confidence, so he can look to really contribute and kick on for the last part of the season.”
