The away masses that piled into Sincil Bank for Birmingham City’s away trip to Lincoln City must have been fearing a second league defeat for their side when Bailey Cadamarteri scored within the first minute for Michael Skubala’s Imps.
No such panic set in on the pitch, however, even if the away fans were a little taken aback by Lincoln’s breakneck start, with the Blues running out as eventual 3-1 winners to tighten their grip on top spot in League One.
Chris Davies managed to steer his table-topping group to this convincing victory even with usual Birmingham star Jay Stansfield absent due to injury, as a new hero in the form of Keshi Anderson stepped up to the mark.
Anderson's performance in numbers
Anderson hasn’t been a consistent starter for his promotion-chasing side so far this League One campaign, starting in five of his team’s nine league games to date, but will be demanding a more concrete spot in Davies’ XIs moving forward after his heroics in Lincolnshire.
With Stansfield’s prowess in front of goal missing, the Blues could well have looked blunt on the road, but Anderson fired home two efforts to make the star striker’s absence feel less obvious and to give his third-tier side a new potent face up top.
But, as this post from Birmingham’s social media after the 3-1 win reveals, the 28-year-old also gave his team far more than just a clinical finisher on the day as Anderson ran himself into the ground for his team’s cause.
Anderson would win six duels in total, on top of completing two tackles, with the experienced EFL head recognised at the end for his overall efforts in ensuring another three points came back to St. Andrew’s away from just his two crucial goals.
It will be intriguing ahead of Birmingham’s next League One showdown whether Stansfield is back in contention for a start, with Davies also left to ponder the availability of Emil Hansson who exited the Sincil Bank pitch with an injury concern.
If the Swedish attacker isn’t ready to play after sustaining a knock, Davies could be prepared to throw someone in from the start in his place.
The player who could replace Hansson
Ayumu Yokoyama might well win his first third-tier start for his new employers against Bolton on Tuesday night, with the Japanese hotshot having had to be patient so far during his fledging Blues career.
The summer recruit from Sagan Tosu has made some bright cameos off the bench in league action already, with one of his four brief appearances off the substitutes bench so far resulting in an assist coming his way versus Wycombe Wanderers way back in August.
Minutes played
35
Goals scored
0
Assists
0
Touches
8
Accurate passes
2/3 (67%)
Key passes
1
Successful dribbles
1/1
Big chances created
1
Despite only managing a meagre eight touches of the ball off the bench against Lincoln, when replacing the injury-stricken Hansson, the 21-year-old winger still managed to leave his mark on proceedings, with one big chance created away from only amassing two accurate passes.
The decision to continue with Anderson versus the Imps proved to be a masterstroke down the right channel, with the surprise inclusion of Yokoyama down the opposite flank perhaps working a treat as well, in a switch that could potentially catch Ian Evatt’s men off-guard.
It does seem at the moment that despite the setbacks Davies has to face with team selections the results just keep coming good for his Birmingham side, as Bolton gift the Blues with a chance to make it a stellar nine wins from 11 in the league tonight.
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