Opinion: Player Ratings Vs. Reading

Birmingham City started their Championship campaign off with a win on Saturday but it was far from straightforward.

Goals from David Cotterill and Jon Toral gave the hosts a 2-0 lead before Nick Blackman scored just before the hour mark to set up a very tense last third of the match.

The visitors should have been level when midfielder Aaron Tshibola struck the underside of the bar and the ball bounced over the line but the officials never gave the goal.

Deep into stoppage time, the Royals were given a life line when David Davis bundled Simon Cox over in the box but debutant Orlando Sa failed to convert the spot kick with Tomasz Kuszczak saving low down to his left.

Below are my player ratings followed by a short sentence on how I feel the player performed during the match.

Kuszczak 6- Despite saving the last minute penalty, the Polish shot stopper had a very poor game and was at fault for the Reading goal.

Caddis 6- Very rarely troubled at right back and supported attacks when he could. However, still more to come from the Scotsman.

Morrison 7- Handled Reading attacks very well and stopped the majority of dangerous attacks. However, could possibly have done more to stop the goal.

Spector 7- Like Morrison, handled attacks well but looked shaky at times. Couldn’t see how he got MOTM as his performance wasn’t the best.

Grounds 6- Solid as always. Looked good in the air but could have done more to stop the cross for the Reading goal.

Kieftenbeld 6- Struggled around the 60 minute mark as his fitness levels began to drop but throughout the first half he showed his quality.

Gleeson 8- My MOTM! I thought Gleeson was outstanding on Saturday. He broke play up and started attacks. Looking forward to seeing more of this from him this season.

Cotterill 7- Scored the free kick which took a huge deflection. Worked tirelessly down the wing once again and looked good when going forward.

Toral 7- Scored a great goal. Movement was very different to Shinnie which was nice to see but his lack of match fitness showed towards the end of the game.

Gray 5- Reading had him in their back pocket all day. He struggled to produce the same sort of form he did against them last season but it was only the first game of the season.

Donaldson 7- One again the big man produced for the Blues. He set up Toral’s goal with a fantastic bit of skill and then the cross. Looking forward to another great season with Donaldson up front.

Substitutes:

Davis 4- Gave away the penalty to set up a tense finish and failed to even do the basics right. Poor start for Davis.

Shinnie 5- Looked okay when he came on but nothing to really light up the final stages of the game.

Robinson 6- Played in an unfamiliar role in midfield but looked comfortable in the new role. Stopped Reading attacks and got stuck in when needed.

Blues fans, what do you make of my ratings for the players? Were you their on Saturday? If so, let us know how you think the players performed in the comment section down below!