Willumsson opens up on ‘new thing’, what Birmingham City don’t talk about and targets
Willum Willumsson is used to having Christmas off but the Icelandic is happily rolling with the punches to keep Birmingham City top of the tree in League One.
Willumsson played a starring role in Blues’ Boxing Day victory over Burton Albion and three more games are on the horizon, starting with Blackpool on Sunday. The 26-year-old is getting his first taste of festive football having previously played in countries where matches aren’t played over Christmas.
“This is a new thing for me,” he told BirminghamLive. “I’ve always been off during Christmas. I played in Holland and there’s only 34 games so this is new to me but I’m enjoying it.
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“To be fair, we just want to play. When you are just playing you get into the rhythm so it’s not difficult.”
Blues are in the midst of an eight-game winning streak in all competitions and recently reclaimed top spot in League One from Wycombe Wanderers. Chris Davies has turned Blues into a winning machine – but they haven’t yet dished out a real hammering in League One with their biggest victory margin being only two goals.
“That’s maybe one thing we can improve on to create a little bit more and score more goals," Willumsson adds. "We need to kill the game earlier by getting that third goal but also, in this busy period, maybe it’s in the back of your mind to just control the game and not completely waste all your energy.
“We go every game to win it and you can see from the first 10-15 minutes that we go all out to get that first goal. We don’t talk about (conserving energy) but with five games in 13 days it’s also important to change a little bit. We have a big squad so that also helps.”
Willumsson was among 17 summer signings and few have made a bigger contribution to Blues’ storming first half of the season. The midfielder has contributed five goals and seven assists in all competitions to put himself among the team’s most prolific players.
“It’s a lot more physical than what I’m used to,” admits 6ft 4in playmaker Willumsson. “When we play away sometimes it can be really scrappy and difficult, so I’m trying to improve as a player as well to maybe use my physical side more.
“I’m quite happy but you always want to do more. As long as the team is winning and we are number one then I’m happy.”
