26-09-2021, 08:45
Birmingham City 0 Preston North End 0
Birmingham City line-up: Sarkic,Colin, Friend, Woods, Chong, Hogan (Aneke, 67), Bela, Dean ©, Sanderson, Sunjic, Deeney (Jutkiewicz, 68). Subs not used: Trueman, Graham, Chang, Oakley.
PNE line-up: Iversen, Storey, Bauer, Hughes, van den Berg, Whiteman (McCann, 70), Ledson, Earl, Johnson © (Potts, 88), Maguire (Murphy, 70), Riis. Subs not used: Rudd, Cunningham, Huntington, Sinclair.
Attendance: 14,925 (1,188 PNE fans)
Referee: Mr M Donhoue
Apart from the first ten minutes in the first half and the first five in the second this was a non event, on a perfect day and pitch there was little to enthuse about the 90 plus minutes of this rather attritionl battle.
It started well Deeney headed against the post from close range should have scored as should have Chong minutes later, Earl tested teh keeper and a Maguire shot went wide after our best passing movement of the afternoon and that was it for the entertainment factor in the first half, our tactics were turn their back three and put in 70 yards cross field passes. City looked dangerous down the let with Bela but like us were let down by the final ball.
![[Image: EF21-D943-AFFC-4371-873-A-45-D34083-E56-B.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/jMRfjrN/EF21-D943-AFFC-4371-873-A-45-D34083-E56-B.jpg)
We started brightly in the second forcing a series of corners, before thanks to some iffy defending by us nearly scored two in a matter of seconds we cleared off the line and Iversen did well to palm away Colin scuffed shot which seemed to be going in, then it was back to the slug fest, apart frrom Hughes blocking a goal bound shot there was little to get excited about as both sides ran out of ideas and got the point they deserved.
On the road up to St Andrews there is a sign directing you to the Custard shop, might have been a better option than the game.
Birmingham City manager Lee Bowyer told BBC Radio WM:
"First half I think both teams had good chances. Troy's and Chong's chances - very, very good chances. You've got to say that they had one or two as well in the first half.
"There was never going to be much in it. I think I said earlier on in the week it was going to be similar to Stoke. And unfortunately I was right, because it wasn't pretty to watch.
"You've got two good teams, honest teams that are fighting for the points. Preston are a good side, you can't forget that.
"My job is to get us to finish above teams like Preston and push teams like that. But we're building and they've been building for a long time.
"Yes, we're disappointed we haven't won at home but the other way I look at it is clean sheet and we haven't been beaten."
Preston North End manager Frankie McAvoy:
"Neither team did enough to win the game in my opinion. I felt first half, on chances, we had the better of them. There were a couple of good chances we could have stuck away and that was a bit frustrating.
"But, overall, we both lacked quality in the final third. We were desperate to get that first goal because goals change games, but the longer it goes 0-0, the mindset changes and you don't want to lose the game.
"Ultimately, we didn't create enough after the break, but they didn't put us under much pressure and defensively we stood up and did well. I'm not too disappointed."
Birmingham City line-up: Sarkic,Colin, Friend, Woods, Chong, Hogan (Aneke, 67), Bela, Dean ©, Sanderson, Sunjic, Deeney (Jutkiewicz, 68). Subs not used: Trueman, Graham, Chang, Oakley.
PNE line-up: Iversen, Storey, Bauer, Hughes, van den Berg, Whiteman (McCann, 70), Ledson, Earl, Johnson © (Potts, 88), Maguire (Murphy, 70), Riis. Subs not used: Rudd, Cunningham, Huntington, Sinclair.
Attendance: 14,925 (1,188 PNE fans)
Referee: Mr M Donhoue
Apart from the first ten minutes in the first half and the first five in the second this was a non event, on a perfect day and pitch there was little to enthuse about the 90 plus minutes of this rather attritionl battle.
It started well Deeney headed against the post from close range should have scored as should have Chong minutes later, Earl tested teh keeper and a Maguire shot went wide after our best passing movement of the afternoon and that was it for the entertainment factor in the first half, our tactics were turn their back three and put in 70 yards cross field passes. City looked dangerous down the let with Bela but like us were let down by the final ball.
We started brightly in the second forcing a series of corners, before thanks to some iffy defending by us nearly scored two in a matter of seconds we cleared off the line and Iversen did well to palm away Colin scuffed shot which seemed to be going in, then it was back to the slug fest, apart frrom Hughes blocking a goal bound shot there was little to get excited about as both sides ran out of ideas and got the point they deserved.
On the road up to St Andrews there is a sign directing you to the Custard shop, might have been a better option than the game.
Birmingham City manager Lee Bowyer told BBC Radio WM:
"First half I think both teams had good chances. Troy's and Chong's chances - very, very good chances. You've got to say that they had one or two as well in the first half.
"There was never going to be much in it. I think I said earlier on in the week it was going to be similar to Stoke. And unfortunately I was right, because it wasn't pretty to watch.
"You've got two good teams, honest teams that are fighting for the points. Preston are a good side, you can't forget that.
"My job is to get us to finish above teams like Preston and push teams like that. But we're building and they've been building for a long time.
"Yes, we're disappointed we haven't won at home but the other way I look at it is clean sheet and we haven't been beaten."
Preston North End manager Frankie McAvoy:
"Neither team did enough to win the game in my opinion. I felt first half, on chances, we had the better of them. There were a couple of good chances we could have stuck away and that was a bit frustrating.
"But, overall, we both lacked quality in the final third. We were desperate to get that first goal because goals change games, but the longer it goes 0-0, the mindset changes and you don't want to lose the game.
"Ultimately, we didn't create enough after the break, but they didn't put us under much pressure and defensively we stood up and did well. I'm not too disappointed."
Why should a man go to work, if he has the health and strength to stay in bed?