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A Game of Two Halves

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Blues 2-3 Leicester City

Blues conjured up a mixed bag in their final pre-season encounter at St Andrew’s against Premiership Leicester City on Saturday. An impressive first-half display was followed by a self-destructive second-half.

After enjoying large spells of possession, Blues found themselves two goals to the good thanks to superb strikes by David Cotterill and Demarai Gray, within a minute of each other. But Claudio Ranieri’s Foxes worked their way back into the game as Blues gave away three very avoidable goals.

Whilst pre-season friendlies do not pale significance, Gary Rowett clearly has a lot to work on prior to next Saturday’s curtain raiser against Reading.

For an hour, Blues’ back four defended astutely but were not put under any real pressure. When they were under the cosh in the second-half, they caved in. Their lack of pace was exposed and the basics, which they got so right in the opening period, went awol.

Most of Blues’ attacking play came from wide positions. Cotterill and Gray looked lively throughout but a creative spark through the middle is needed to take the onus off them. Andy Shinnie looked leggy and off the pace whilst Clayton Donaldson was anonymous throughout.

Positives? As mentioned before, the performance from both wide-men was impressive and new boy Maikel Kieftenbeld showed his capability with some good touches and positional play. With more match sharpness, the Dutchman could prove to be a very worthwhile addition.

Arsenal loanee Jon Toral showed some neat skill and good link-up play during his 25-minute stint. The Spaniard’s style of play resembled that of a certain Mr. Fabbrini so there is hope that he can offer that creative edge that Blues badly need.

Pre-season results aren’t always an accurate reflection of a team’s ability but can point in the way of suggestion. Blues will need to improve in many areas, especially at the back, if they are to compete next season.

Six days to go until the opening game in what could be a very interesting and unpredictable season.

Twitter @TheWildeyShow

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