One To Watch: Bailey Wright

The opposition that will face Birmingham City tomorrow are Preston North End. They are the silent underdogs of the year having just been promoted last time out, they are shooting up the league and currently find themselves 10th, one place below the Blues’. This game will show whether Birmingham are going to push for a high league position or whether we will just let our season fizzle out.

This week’s one to watch has been quite tricky because Preston are a young side who have been quite unpredictable in recent weeks. The goals in each game have varied significantly and sometimes Grayson gets them clicking and other times, he does not. So for me, I had to look a bit more closely. I think that Birmingham will really push for goals and therefore it’ll be a defender that stands out for PNE. Their main defender in my view is Bailey Wright and therefore he is my one to watch.

The Australian international has been at the heart of the defence for Preston since 2011 and therefore has had a few ups and downs with the club. He has established himself in the defence alongside Clarke who has the captain’s tendency to dictate. This partnership has proven to be strong not only in League one but also this season in the Championship. The addition of goalkeeper Lindegaard has only strengthened their back line.

Wright has started 37 games this season which shows how much Grayson rates him as a player. He is very good in the air but I would still like to see us whip crosses in because Donaldson is one of the best headers of a football. It’ll be interesting to see who comes out on top. Wright is also a very sturdy figure and loves a good tussle so it’s best if we can try and play around him. This is because his biggest weakness is his pace, or lack of it. He is not a slouch but he certainly can’t match the pace of Fabbrini or Viv. So I would like to see us really drive at the Preston defence and try and be delicate in and around the area because this could create gaps. If we enter into a scrappy contest, then Bailey will love that and probably out compete our attack.

I believe we can be the better team on Tuesday night but it will be down to us losing the game rather than them winning it. We need to take our chances when they come and try and not be too soft in the challenge. I predict a tough game.