The Duke rescues Blues

Blues simply cannot afford not to sign Lukas Jutkiewicz. The Duke was on hand again to bury his fifth goal in eleven appearances to haul his team back from a goal behind to earn a point at the John Smith’s Stadium.

A share of the spoils represents a decent afternoon’s work for a Blues side who laboured towards the draw. But Huddersfield have a great home record so a point is not to be sniffed at.

There’s still a lot of rustiness around Blues on the road at present. Before the game, Gary Rowett challenged his team to play with the same intensity as last Sunday. Although they didn’t manage it, toiling for a result stops the rot after two successive away defeats at Nottingham Forest and Burton Albion.

For a change, Rowett will welcome the international break. His side have put in some jaded displays and will be glad to take a week off.

In a fortnight, Blues will entertain Bristol City at St. Andrews with an opportunity to return to winning ways. Hopefully, the rustiness will dissapear and will be replaced by a freshness that’s been lacking of late.

Jutkiewicz is doing all he can to earn a permanent move to the second city. But the problem arises that other teams may now sit up and take notice of his performances and, more importantly, his goals.

In hindsight, with a bolder team selection, Huddersfield could have been there for the taking. Blues’ substitutes bench included Diego Fabbrini, Che Adams, Greg Stewart and Jacques Maghoma who arguably could have made the difference going forward. But on the flip side, Blues may have been too open and lost the game.

Ryan Shotton could have won it for Blues right at the death, but that would have been an undeserved win.