One To Watch: Conor Washington

The optimism after the Fulham win seems to have dwindled. It didn’t last long or take much but it seems as though the fight that was shown in that game has somewhat deserted the team since. Ryan Shotton and Michael Morrison are both still out with groin injuries whereas the midfield pair of Craig Gardner and David Davis are out with suspensions. So the team pattern will change and the personnel will have to change so who knows what will happen when Birmingham City play Queens Park Rangers tomorrow.

QPR are loitering in 19th position in the Championship and are struggling to pick up points especially away. This is the perfect opportunity for the Blues’ to get back on track. QPR lack a lot of pace especially at the back and so I would hope that Che Adams starts the game and despite this being an unpopular opinion, I would also like to see Jerome Sinclair start. But we will leave that debate for another article.

Ravel Morrison, the wayward forward who started his career at Manchester United before Alex Ferguson lost patience in him, is back at QPR for a loan spell from Italy and this could be his first appearance this season in England. But I highly doubt that he will start or even be 100% match fit so we have caught him at the right time. Matt Smith also joins the club and he is always a threat despite not scoring as many goals as his size would suggest. A further addition is Sean Goss, another United youngster who I have seen several times. Definitely one for the future but I would be surprised to see him start the game. So who will my one to watch be?

For me it has to be Conor Washington. The most infuriating things that fans say about strikers is that they are just lucky if they get goals within the 18 yard box. I know people used to say that about Clayton Donaldson. It’s not about luck it’s about great anticipation and movement in order to be in the position for the ball to drop to you and then to apply a simple finish. Only a few players have this ability to read the game and judge where the ball is going and to be ahead of the defenders in doing so. Conor Washington is one of those players that is always in the right place at the right time. I think the best at this is Zlatan at Manchester United. Not that I’m comparing Washington with the Swedish striker, but you can all make your minds up about that after the game tomorrow.

His eye for goal is good but his link up play with fellow team mates also shows how good he is. The little lay offs he does to the midfield are perfect and he retains the ball so well. He doesn’t look the strongest but yet he can out muscle defenders withe ease. He didn’t have the best start to the season but recently he has really come into his own and he will be full of confidence heading into the game. Now I expect us to put a lot of pressure on them but that means that we are open to a break. Ryan Manning has the pace to attack and if he gets going then you can beat that Washington will be supporting him. We really do need to be wary of this especially if we have a make shift defence.

Despite choosing a striker, I believe that we will pressurise the opposition a lot but we need to be very solid defensively if we are going to win the game. I think that it is a must win game for the Blues’ because not only will this be a slippery slope in terms of results, but also the fans will be less than impressed and it’ll only be a matter of time before they become restless.