Birmingham City are rapidly closing in on the League One title after brushing Wycombe Wanderers aside on Saturday.
Second-placed Wycombe succumbed to a Taylor Gardner-Hickman goal at St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park and 12 points now separate themselves and Blues. Blues also have a game-in-hand on all the teams below them in the table.
Blues are now on an 18-game unbeaten run in the league after winning their sixth straight home game. The outlook is overwhelmingly positive for Chris Davies’ side.
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Here are our talking points post-Wycombe…
The race is almost over
Davies isn’t the sort to let complacency creep in and he will have his eyes set on breaking the League One points record. In his first job as a manager, the 39-year-old has created a winning machine.
Blues have 76 points from 32 matches and are tracking to finish their 46-game league campaign on 109 – a total that would see them break the League One and EFL points record.
Another five wins in their final 14 matches would put Blues on 91 points. That points tally would have been enough to win automatic promotion in every recent League One season bar the 2022/23 campaign where Plymouth, Ipswich and Sheffield Wednesday set a ridiculously fast pace.
‘It’s about speeding up’
The words no League One manager wants to hear. Davies knows his all-conquering Blues side can get even better.
He said: “We’ve put ourselves in a strong position but from our point of view – and I’ve told the players – it’s not a case of slowing down now, it’s about speeding up.
“We don’t want to change anything about what we do. We want to push ourselves to improve because we can, that’s the truth. How we develop this consistency is how we focus, prepare for a game and go for it. Leave it all out there and we need to do it on Tuesday.”
Allsop is a cheat code
Fingers crossed Blues’ number one goalkeeper isn’t seriously injured, because they are a much weaker proposition without him. Not only has Allsop been excellent between the sticks this season, his distribution has been a weapon of attack for Blues.
In recent months the ping to Ethan Laird or Keshi Anderson has been a route to goal for Blues and stand-in left-winger Gardner-Hickman benefitted from it on Saturday.
There can’t be a goalkeeper who is better with the ball at his feet outside the Premier League.
Davies commented: “I’ve worked with top, top goalkeepers in the Premier League and Ryan is right up there with his feet. There’s no doubt. I’ve seen some of the best in the world and he has great quality.
“It’s hard to gauge it sometimes when we’re playing where we are, but he does have real quality to pick someone out and make the right decisions. He’s having a great season.
“More than that, with goalkeepers it’s always do they make saves? I’ve seen goalkeepers that are really good with their feet but they’ll always let a goal in or make a mistake and you think ‘What’s the point in that?’
“With Ryan, he came for some crosses today that he had to be really dominant to catch them. He’s saved penalties and had big moments. He’s good in the goal and with his feet he’s exceptional.”
A special moment for Jukey
At 35, Lukas Jutkiewicz is enjoying the twilight of his Blues career and finally playing in a team that is challenging at the right end of the table – albeit a level lower than he’s used to.
Due to injuries to Jay Stansfield and Lyndon Dykes, Jutkiewicz has found his way back into the League One squad of late to rack up a couple more appearances.
The striker’s outing off the bench against Wycombe was his 350th in Blues’ colours, a feat only 15 players in the club’s history have managed.
