Luke Turner looks at what could happen to Donaldson if we sign a new striker…
It’s been well documented that Gary Rowett wants to bring another striker into the club and it`s certainly a priority for the fans.
With Denny Johnstone departing for Colchester United and James Vaughan`s Blues career in the balance, we may see more than one new striker come through the St Andrews doors.
Two extra strikers would mean more competition for Clayton Donaldson and a lot more potential for rotation. If we are to move forward as a club then at least one of the strikers will have to be good enough to take over from Donaldson.
I am hoping for a young, hungry goalscorer with plenty of potential. The main name mentioned is, of course, Tom Bradshaw.
If someone of his ilk was to come in then I would have every confidence that they would be able to seriously mount a challenge for Donaldson`s position and put pressure on him.
This would mean less reliance on the Jamaican forward and a lot less weight off his shoulders. He has been excellent over the past two seasons but hasn’t really had anyone on the bench to really knock him off his perch.
It would definitely benefit him and the team if we had better options available to make it easier to rotate and switch the side about if needed.
Donaldson isn’t getting any younger and with his international commitment`s coming so late in his career, he may need a rest now and again.
If a player comes in and scores a couple of goals then there is no reason as to why they can’t be the first choice striker and push Donaldson to the bench.
I’m not suggesting that this will happen but it is something to think about. Clayton will probably appreciate an increase in competition for the striker position as it could help his own game improve.
We could even, potentially, see Donaldson paired with an incoming striker and it could change the whole dynamics of the Blues side.
In the Championship you need options in all areas of the field. Blues haven’t really had the best of options in the forward position over the past few years and it would make a change to have three or even four solid striking options to choose from.
Scoring goals is what Blues need to improve on. We can’t just rely on Donaldson to do that for us.