One To Watch: Curtis Nelson

Extensive research of the opposition has gone into choosing a ‘One To Watch’ this week due to the fact that I haven’t seen them play live in a long time as well as not being aware of many of there players this season. Purely based on the fact that Birmingham City are the seeded time in the draw means that I think that we will be the more attacking side and really try and press Oxford United.

Therefore I have decided to go with their most prominent defender and in this case it is the centre back, Curtis Nelson who I have chosen will be the hardest to get past. At a lofty 6 foot, he is no minnow when it comes to defending crosses and I feel that we will be able to exploit out wide meaning that he will have a lot of crosses in which to defend. He seems competent from what I gather at this and therefore I would like to see us playing the ball through low or through the middle of the park.

Nelson will really shine in a cup game as well. Some defenders love being part of the under dog because it means a lot of last ditch tackling and blocks. Nelson is really good at this because he shows no fear and will fling his body in the way in order to help his team keep a clean sheet. I think Robbo possesses this same personality but often in the leagues below the Championship, they don’t have the pace to close down effectively and the ball can deflect for an own goal. Nelson seems smarter than this so we will need to get the shots off quickly which I think Fabbrini in particular could do.

Overall, I think we need an early goal in order to force them to come out and try and attack. This will leave gaps at the back and the fitness will also tell towards the end of the game. If they get a lead or are still drawing, then they will sit deep and this is when Birmingham City tend to become unstook. I’d would like to see Vaughan play as well as Viv in order to have a pacey side in order to try and get in behind the Oxford brick wall.

Also I would have Fabbrini in order to try and dance his way around the defence. Nelson as I have mentioned is a good player but he is not the most fleet footed and therefore I think that Fab could outclass him if he is prepared to dribble.

We certainly need a goal scorer other than Donaldson but I think that if we fail to score against Oxford when we have the quality players that we have, it would be extremely disappointing.