This week, Gary Rowett anticipates St Andrew’s to step up once more, just when Birmingham City most needs support. In what may turn out to be a crucial home double header for the Blues in the context of their season, the team will welcome Cardiff City and then Coventry City to B9. The players are still getting over their painful late-day away loss to Leicester City.
At the last minute, the Blues gave in to pressure on Saturday against the Foxes, who were vying for promotion. This was by no means the first time this season—or even under Rowett, in his incredibly brief second spell back in charge.With five games remaining, their inability to secure a result saw them drop into the bottom three. Of those, three will take place domestically.
More than 3,000 people attended the King Power Stadium to watch the Blues take on Preston North End on Easter Monday. Jay Stansfield gave the team a hard-fought 1-0 victory. Rowett would like to see every aspect of the team, including the players, coaches, and supporters, be able to duplicate that Wednesday afternoon’s 7.45 p.m. kickoff against Cardiff.
“That sense, that atmosphere of home,” thought Rowett. “It was nice to return to the field to face Preston. It was overdue by a long shot. That is our task; let’s go back and repeat it. We are confident that the fans will be loud and present in the audience. I’ll never question the mood. We must make use of the electric atmosphere since we know it will exist. Sometimes, when things don’t go our way, we have to be patient and maintain our faith in our efforts.”
Thankfully, there haven’t been any more employee setbacks in the interim. Longtime Blues players Marc Roberts and Lukas Jutkiewicz are still absent, as is loanee Oliver Burke, but Rowett still has access to a sizable roster of players. Importantly, as of Monday, there haven’t been any further fitness concerns. As a result, he has had to leave players like George Hall and Andre Dozzell out of his 20-man squad at different times.
“So far, indeed,” Rowett said. Nobody, in my opinion, has encountered a serious problem. We just ran out of energy throughout the [Leicester] game, which meant that it was time to reenergize and make some adjustments. Occasionally, after making modifications within the game, you reflect on the incident and question whether you would have handled things a little differently. You must always exercise critical thought and ensure that we choose wisely for the upcoming games.”
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