Birmingham City continued their pre-season preparations with a comfortable 2-0 win over Shrewsbury Town at Croud Meadow on Saturday. Jordan James in the first half and then Lukas Jutkiewicz in the second period sealed a comfortable victory with plenty of classy displays.
It was a strong first XI sent out by Chris Davies, in front of a healthy away crowd at the home of one of their League One rivals heading into the new season. That line-up included departures for new signings Alex Cochrane and Willum Willumsson, while latest recruit Christophe Klarer was also in attendance, watching his new colleagues.
There were some early positive impressions from Willumsson, who played some attractive long balls throughout his 45-minute run. The likes of Krystian Bielik and Paik Seung-ho, international talents of course, demonstrated their quality and looked a cut above their opponents.
The Blues took the lead midway through the first half. It was a lovely move, built up as a result of Shrewsbury’s sloppiness in their own defensive third. Paik started the move and eventually the ball ran to Ethan Laird, who in turn released Koji Miyoshi wide on the right. His pull-back was sent goalwards by James and although the initial attempt was blocked, the Welshman slotted home the rebound.
Salop thought they had equalised when Jordan Shipley converted at the back post, only for the flag to go up. The Blues were relieved again in the second half when the same flag denied George Lloyd, who thought he had equalised from close range following a corner. The Blues, however, should have been further ahead anyway at that stage after Miyoshi passed who had a golden chance.
Striker Alfie May came close to scoring from a set piece when he curled a free kick wide of the target, but it was his substitute Jutkiewicz who was in the right place at the right time to convert Romelle Donovan’s cross.
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