Birmingham City started their league campaign at St Andrew’s with a goalless draw against Cardiff City. In a game where chances for the home side were at a premium, it once again took the introduction of some of the younger members of the squad for Blues to look like scoring.

Having seen Blues play three times in pre-season, I can’t say I was that surprised by the scoreline yesterday. While some will tell you pre-season means nothing the game was very reminiscent of Hibs (bar the fact Cardiff were more profligate in front of goal) in that Blues looked very static and devoid of ideas, while like the Port Vale game it took the introduction of Reece Brown and Jack Storer from the bench to get any kind of real attacking threat going.

It’s obvious Jack Storer is feeling confident right now. Within a minute of coming on he pinged a shot narrowly side from range that spoke volumes of how much he is backing himself to score – and to be fair he probably should have with a chance from closer range. His close control was unbelievable; the ball sticking to his foot even when the ball was being punted forty yards up the pitch to him. Storer’s challenge is going to be how he reacts when he inevitably picks up cards, or if he has a poor game – if he can take that in his stride, refocus and be back on it he could be the find of the season for us.

The hype train I really want to get on though is Reece Brown. I really hope that this is it – he’s now back in the team and we’ll get to see the promise he’s shown finally blossom into actual results. Brown’s vision is incredible; he played a one-two with Donaldson before putting a sumptuous little ball into the box on a plate for Storer who could only hit the keeper from close range. Brown was always looking for the pass to play someone in, to unlock the defence. I sincerely hope he starts against Oxford in the cup.

Gary Rowett had spoken in his pre-match presser about players not getting into the team and it appears Paul Caddis might have been who he was speaking about. The Scottish fullback didn’t even make the bench – and I wonder with the emergence of Cogley too if this is where Caddis is moved on. I do like the self-appointed “saviour” but with Rowett seemingly morphing into the Bromsgrove Tony Pulis I think Caddis might be seen as being too short for his position in the defence.

Hopefully, this next week will be the one where we can add a bit of pace to the team, and also a bit of cover for Jonathan Grounds who wasn’t great – yet is in the team by default as there is no either senior left back to challenge him. It’s evident that we do need a bit more in the squad – otherwise I think we have a season of scrappy games with little possession to look forwards to.

Tags: Cardiff City, Jack Storer, Paul Caddis, Reece Brown