2017/18 season predictions: Key player

It’s almost upon us- the 2017/18 Championship season. Blues travel to Portman Road tomorrow to face Ipswich as Harry Redknapp kicks-off his first full campaign in charge.

As I mentioned in my last season prediction piece, there will be plenty of twists and turns over the next nine months that could either make or break Blues hopes.

Football is very much a squad game, particularly in the Championship. As much as you’d like there to be a consistent team that performs well every week, most players will get the opportunity to play their part at some point.

But, with that in mind, there will be others that become crucial to the side and you can really begin to miss them when they’re not playing.

So with that said, my key player for the 2017/18 season is going to be Che Adams.

It may seem like a very obvious choice but there’s no doubting that the 21-year-old has a huge future in football and I’m expecting big things from the youngster.

Last season, he very much bedded himself into Championship football but got more and more valuable to the team as the season went on.

He scored seven goals and one of those was extremely significant. That of course being the winning goal on the final day of the season against Bristol City to ensure the club survived relegation.

In what was a turbulent season for the club, Adams seemed to come through it all as a better player for it.

He played a couple of different positions but I think we’ve found where he’s the most dangerous- just behind the striker.

With attacking options looking pretty scarce at the moment for Redknapp, Adams is the man we`re going to look to to supply the goods.

I don’t want to put pressure on the lad, but I think even he knows that he’s capable and has the ability to really take it up a gear this season.

He’s our prized asset and you can see why. He’s got explosive pace, strength and an eye for goal- without him in the team, Blues look pretty slow and laboured going forward.

Adams is still very young but I’ve got real hope that he can really explode this season and take the Championship by storm.

Blues are lucky to have him and if he can reach a consistent level, he`ll certainly be a crucial cog of Redknapp`s machine going forward this forthcoming campaign.