Lloyd Dyer and Burton Albion must be the most frustrating duo in the Championship for us.
Four times we have played Burton now and four times we have failed to beat them. Four times Lloyd Dyer has scored past us and let us know about it. When he played on loan here, he did not impress me massively. He has good raw pace but failed to show any sort of ability. To top it off, when he did score he goaded the Blues fans in his celebrations!
I thought our cup win over Burton in January would have ended the curse but in the back of my mind I was still concerned about this game. Realistically, we should have won the game and although, it was nice to get the point in the end it kind of feels like two points dropped. To have 25 shots with 13 on target and not come away victorious is a kick in the teeth. We dominated the game, Burton only managed six shots with two on target. As much as it is disappointing, it is still a vital point gained in the aiming to beat the drop.
For the second home game running I was unable to attend the game. This time due to a family wedding. (Plastic fan I know) Having seen the highlights and the Twitter notifications come through from the game, I was amazed we had not scored in the first half.
In my opinion, we should have been a goal up early on. From the still images and highlights I have seen Boga was not offside when the ball last touched Jota. He then went on to round the keeper and score. I could be wrong, but I believe the referee blew for a foul on Jota but could not play advantage due to the linesman calling Boga offside. It was a tough one to call but the officials must have known what was going on. Sometimes fine margins like that can indicate it may not be your day.
Lukas Jutkiewicz has had a fine spell in the side recently and again on Saturday. I think he may have been critical of himself in the sense, he should have scored a goal before his late equaliser. Stephen Bywater pulled of a good save to deny him in the first half. His majestic turn certainly deserved more. The ball fell to him quite quickly after Jota’s deflected shot, so to turn that well and shoot was impressive. However, his second half chance was a poor miss. It looks like he has got under the ball to much but in fairness it did drop to him quite quickly. It should have hit the net though, rather than hitting the Tilton.
He did grab the only goal for us which was fully deserved on his and the team’s behalf. It was a great header as well, the ball from Boga did most of the work for him in a way. Good to see Juke keeping up his goal scoring form. When we play to his strengths, he is such a handful for defenders. It is hard to stop him in the air and he holds the ball up as well as anyone. The main thing I like about him is his desire to win. He is not the most athletic, but he will certainly run for as long as he can.
On a brighter note, it was good to see another good performance from Jota. He is starting to show his capabilities under Garry Monk and I am chuffed for him. He has not been great for the most part and received criticism but now we are seeing why we broke our transfer record for him. He is certainly benefiting in the change of management and enjoying his run in the side. The Spaniard looks a completely different player. It is not just his own performance that is benefiting, the players around him and preforming as well. Jota is linking up well with the other attackers and playing clever passes to split defences. It is a shame his confidence has not been this high all season.
He drove forward at Burton any time he could and like Juke he could have had a couple of goals on a different day. One of his efforts was cleared off the line and another hitting the base of the post summed up the afternoon. Then I saw Davis had hit the bar and, in my head, it was game over and another victory for Burton against us. It had the ‘not our day’ feeling about it.
Photo taken by DavoBirmingham
It was good to see another good crowd inside St Andrews Saturday. The official attendance was 22,311 which is a great turnout. The big crowds make a difference and seem to be helping the players. We have two more home games left of the season, so hopefully we can get more attendances like Saturday.
Burton made it difficult for us by going defensive in the second half. It was clear they were going to do everything possible to try and keep those three points. I think Monk’s comments after to BBC WM sum the game up perfectly.
He said, “We deserved to win that game, that’s clear. We know that with the amount of good chances we had, we should have taken them, and we need to be more ruthless.
“But to come from a losing position and get a point is typical of the spirit in the group, and every point is going to be vital.”
In the end, it is a point gained. Although, most of the results around us did not do us too many favours. Barnsley, Hull and Reading all won. Sunderland drew and Bolton losing 3-0 was a great result for us. They now have a worse goal difference compared to us and goal difference could be a huge factor come the end of the season. As us Blues say, ‘we will fight till the end’ and I’m certain the players will as well.
We now look ahead to what will be a tough game at Ashton Gate and I will have a preview up this afternoon for that game.
KRO!
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