3 things we clearly learnt about Birmingham City after their 0-0 draw with Coventry | OneFootball

Birmingham City produced a spirited performance yesterday as they secured a point in their showdown with Coventry City.

After witnessing his side suffer back-to-back defeats in the Championship at the hands of Reading and Hull City, Blues manager Lee Bowyer opted to make one change to his team for Tuesday’s game as Marcel Oakley replaced the suspended Gary Gardner in the club’s starting eleven.

Oakley went on to help Birmingham keep a clean-sheet at the Coventry Building Society Arena by featuring at right wing-back.

Despite Ryan Woods’ dismissal in the closing stages of this fixture, the Blues were able to prevent Mark Robins’ side from netting a late winner.

With the dust having now settled from this particular clash, we have decided to take a look at THREE things we clearly learnt about Birmingham after their 0-0 draw with Coventry…

When the Blues opted to sign Mateja Sarkic from Wolverhampton Wanderers on a season-long loan deal in the summer transfer window, the jury was out on whether the goalkeeper would be able to deliver the goods in the second-tier.

Handed the opportunity to showcase his talent by Bowyer during the current campaign, Sarkic has been one of Birmingham’s most impressive players in recent months as he has now managed to keep nine clean-sheets in 19 appearances.

Particularly impressive against Coventry, the 24-year-old produced stops to prevent the likes of Ian Maatsen and Matt Godden from opening the scoring as he recorded a WhoScored match rating of 7.90.

Sarkic is clearly developing into a fantastic keeper at Birmingham and thus it wouldn’t be at all surprising if he ends up challenging for a starting spot at Wolves when he returns to Molineux next year.

Although Birmingham would have been relatively pleased to pick up a point against a Coventry side who are currently fourth in the Championship standings, they did squander a good opportunity to secure victory.

Scott Hogan fired over from close-range after being set-up by Troy Deeney in the second-half of yesterday’s game.

If the Blues are to achieve a relative amount of success in the Championship this season, they simply have to be more clinical in-front of goal as they have only managed to find the back of the net on 18 occasions in 19 league games.

With Jordan Graham, Maxime Colin and Ivan Sanchez all currently being forced to watch on from the sidelines yesterday due to their respective injury issues, Bowyer opted to turn to Oakley for inspiration at the Coventry Building Society Arena.

The right wing-back went on to deliver an assured performance before limping off with a knock in the 65th minute of the fixture.

When you consider that Birmingham are currently short of options in this particular position, Bowyer may need to utilise Juan Castillo on the right for their clash with Blackpool on Saturday.

Despite featuring predominantly as a left-back for the club this season, the Dutchman showed some signs of promise in an unfamiliar role on Tuesday as he made one interception and completed five passes in his cameo appearance (as per WhoScored).