Wrexham chant laughable but Jay Stansfield's best is yet to come for Birmingham City
Birmingham City fended off Wrexham’s second half onslaught to collect another point in their League One promotion quest at the Racecourse Ground on Thursday night.
Spectators were treated to a feisty encounter in north Wales between two teams gunning for the Championship. Wrexham’s opener from Ollie Rathbone was cancelled out by an 18th minute goal which has been credited to Lyndon Dykes and the scoring stopped there.
Blues became only the third team to avoid defeat at Wrexham’s home in the league, and they extended their unbeaten run to 15 games in the process. Blues still possess a five-point lead on third-placed Wrexham.
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Here are our talking points from Wrexham 1-1 Blues…
Blues coped with Wrexham’s aerial assault
Wrexham bombarded Ryan Allsop’s box with crosses during the second half but Blues coped thanks to the bravery of Christoph Klarer and Ben Davies. It wasn’t pretty and some of it was last-ditch, such as Davies' flick which took the ball off Steven Fletcher’s head at the death, but Blues showed resilience to repel the danger time and time again.
Klarer won seven aerial duels to match the physicality of Wrexham striker Ollie Palmer – the only Blues player to win more was Dykes (9). Chris Davies’ decision to start Dykes was clearly made with set pieces in mind.
The Scot caused havoc in Wrexham’s box and was a presence at the other end to assist Klarer and Davies. It was no surprise to see the Blues manager reach for Krystian Bielik and Lukas Jutkiewicz late on either. Blues stood up to the physical test and didn’t wilt.
Another set play goal
Chris Davies has identified attacking set pieces as an area in need of improvement and his players have responded with two goals from corners in three matches. The winner at Swindon last week came via an Alex Cochrane inswinger and Dykes’ goal at Wrexham also arrived from a corner.
For a team with such height and power, Blues haven’t really punched their weight in the opposition’s box throughout the season. Dykes’ goal was just the sixth Blues have managed from set pieces in the league – only four teams have scored fewer.
Austrian defender Klarer, who stands at 6ft 4ins, is among those who haven’t made a telling contribution on attacking set pieces in League One fixtures. Klarer commented: “That was an area to improve for us and we have been working on it. The coaching staff have spent a lot of hours trying to improve it for us. Set plays is a very important aspect in the game, if we can start adding set plays to our goals tally that’s going to really help us.”
Wrexham are wrong – but Stansfield has more to give
‘What a waste of money’ reverberated around the Racecourse Ground when Jay Stansfield was replaced by Bielik for the closing stages. Stansfield has become accustomed to that due to his League One record transfer, but it couldn’t be further from the truth.
The 22-year-old’s goals will likely lead Blues to promotion and, once back in the Championship, Davies has a forward who has proven himself at that level with bags of untapped potential.
However, even though Stansfield has scored an impressive 12 goals in his 19 league appearances, you can’t help but feel League One hasn’t had the full Stansfield experience yet. We watched Stansfield torment Championship defences last season and, at times, almost single-handedly lead the club’s fight against relegation.
This time around there’s been his St Andrew’s homecoming against Wrexham, where he bagged a brace and stole the show from the A-listers in attendance. He notched another brace at Barnsley to turn zero points into three. Stansfield’s winner at Crawley just before Christmas was another crucial contribution.
But he has only scored from open play in five games, with five penalties padding his goals tally. There has been a change in position to accommodate Alfie May’s return to the centre-forward position and it must be said that Blues don’t create bags of chances for their forwards.
A couple of injuries have also disrupted Stansfield’s rhythm, but we can expect a bit more from a player who is unquestionably playing beneath his level this season.
A point gained, onto Huddersfield…
In years gone by that is the sort of game Blues would have lost. The fact they were able to grind out a draw to prevent a direct rival gaining ground in the promotion race shows the mental toughness within this group.
Given the five-point lead Blues have built up over Wrexham, a draw is a good result should Davies’ team win their two games in hand. A trip to Huddersfield Town on Tuesday involves similar jeopardy. Avoid defeat and automatic promotion is Blues’ to lose.
