Blues v Villa: take the point and move on

One match reporter wrote- ‘You couldn’t fit a chop stick between the two teams’.

And while Blues could have won yesterday’s second city derby, they could also easily have lost it. So in that respect, a point can’t be sniffed at.

With a bit more composure, Jota could have been the hero. With a suggestion more delicacy, Cheikh Ndoye could have been the hero. In the end, that award probably goes to Tomasz Kuszczak.

If you can’t win a game, make sure you don’t lose it. The Pole in goal, despite not being overworked, made two outstanding saves just as Villa seemed in the ascendancy to keep the game goalless.

At St. Andrews, Blues are becoming a solid, if not spectacular, team. Three consecutive clean sheets in front of their own fans is evidence of this – but their problems lie in the final third where they’ve only scored eight goals in 14 Championship outings.

If we learnt anything from yesterday’s second city derby, it’s: 1) cardboard clappers are a waste of time and 2) Aston Villa are not 11 points and 15 league places better than Blues.

Steve Cotterill is slowly moulding his team into an organised unit. David Davis and Maikel Kieftenbeld were steady and Ndoye was menacing for an hour. The attacking onus fell to Che Adams, Jota and Isaac Vassell – who was forced off injured once again.

But the back four were rock solid and it was they, along with Kuszczak, who earned Blues what could well be a valuable point.

Follow Rob on Twitter  wild3y86