Alex McLeish praises Gardner
Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish has praised Craig Gardner for the midfielder's great start to the season.
Gardner scored for the fourth time this season during Birmingham's League Cup win over Milton Keynes Dons. McLeish says it's important Gardner can be consistent if the team is going to be successful.
"I'm delighted for Craig.
Last year Lee Bowyer scored six in the first half of the season which was instrumental in our very good run and Craig has come in and shown that he can score goals.
A goalscoring midfielder is very rare and it's hard to find them,"
said McLeish.
Gardner's place in the Birmingham side is not in doubt and he will now be one of the first names on the team sheet for every game. His good form has led to him being tipped for a place in one of Fabio
Capello's England squads.
Gardner is playing well in a number of different areas. He must be effective in every game over a long season if Birmingham is to achieve the goal of finishing inside the Premier League top ten.
Playing well
Gardner is very effective at breaking up the play in the middle of the pitch. This makes him effective in an aggressive role. He can stop the opposition having time on the ball and wins back possession
at key times.
He is getting into some very good advanced positions. This gives him more chances to score goals for Birmingham. This gives the opposition another player to worry about because he is very good at stretching
a defence and creating space.
Gardner will be full of confidence and belief. This should help inspire him to keep playing at a high level. If there is talk of him possibly playing for England then he will feel compelled to play out
of his skin for Birmingham.
The top ten
Birmingham is going for a top half finish in the Premier League this season along with some good cup runs. Gardner must maintain the momentum he's created if the club is
going to achieve this.
McLeish faces the difficult task of knowing when to take the pressure away from one of his best players. Other teams will start to focus more on Gardner if he continues
putting in good performances and this means the midfielder will need more protection from the boss.
The manager added: "Frank Lampard
is probably the stand-out individual in his position in the Barclays Premier League over the past few years, but it's good to see Craig getting amongst the goals.
Not only has he got a very strong shot but he gets on the end of things in the box as well.
I've been pleased with Craig's return and he's been doing it on the training ground every day."
Betting advice
Gardner is confident right now and this means he is more likely to score more goals. Have a bet on him scoring in any of Birmingham's next few games. He looks better than
ever in front of goal.
Back the club to finish in the top half of the Premier League but be more wary with the cup competitions. Birmingham lacks the quality needed to make the later rounds of
the FA and League Cups. Therefore a match by match betting approach is a better option.
Also back any of the club's strikers to score regularly. Gardner is very key in creating chances when the team attacks. If he's playing well then he'll be setting up more
goal scoring opportunities. Cameron Jerome and Nikola Zigic are good enough to convert these.
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