One To Watch: Jonathan Kodjia

After the busy December period, the games have now started to fall back into the routine whereby we have one game a week. This week it is the turn of Bristol City to host our Birmingham side.

Despite Bristol City struggling in the Championship, I have actually chosen their striker, Jonathan Kodjia as the one to watch this week. Now, Birmingham City have kept clean sheets in their last couple of games against the tough opposition that is Derby and Ipswich. However, if their strikers had been more clinical, this may not have been the case. We did defend well, and I am not questioning that, but we also let them have a few chances that they failed to take.

We cannot be as easy-going on Saturday though as Jonathan Kodjia is a very tough striker to play against. He has scored 10 goals this season which is remarkable considering how he hasn’t had the service that he needs. He has also managed 34 shots on target, so he is clinical when given an opportunity.

What I notice the most about Kodjia is that he is both fast and strong. Often, you get a player who is pacey but who cannot shoulder a defender off the ball. On the other hand, there are many strikers out there who rely on their strength but are slower than a tortoise. Kodjia reminds me of Ighalo, the Watford striker. He is pacey enough to go beyond the defence, but also has the physical side to his game, despite not necessarily looking the most powerful.

For all the world, I love Robbo. I think he has been outstanding the last few games and has been a major contributor to our clean sheets. But he doesn’t have the pace to match the young forward and I can only see this being a bad thing if Robbo was to start. The addition of Shotton today would add pace to the back four which is needed however, I doubt that Ryan is match fit and will come into the side straight away. So Spector would be my preferred option.

I just hope that we don’t take our current form for granted. The opposition have decent players despite their injury struggles and have recently shown that with a victory and league high fliers, Middlesbrough. We have to start off fast and score early, and then it’ll be a comfortable afternoon. If we do not, then they may sit deep and it’ll be a whole lot tougher for Gary and his men.