Birmingham boss Gary Rowett praises Clayton Donaldson after Bristol City treble
Saturday 12 September 2015 19:41, UK
Birmingham boss Gary Rowett was full of praise for striker Clayton Donaldson after his impressive hat-trick paved the way for a 4-2 win over struggling Bristol City.
Under the astute guidance of Rowett, Blues have emerged as one of the surprise packages so far and this latest win took them into fourth spot in the Sky Bet Championship as they maintained their unbeaten start to the season.
Rowett said: "Clayton has worked so hard since I walked through the door. They were his first goals of the season and he has been on a team which has not lost in the league or the cup.
"We have got other players to score from different areas but I was really pleased for him as he took his first two goals so well."
Rowett is not allowing anyone to get carried away after a superb start to the campaign.
He added: "We have followed on from last season. We have won the last three games and in our last 10 matches we have won eight and drawn two. That is an excellent record.
"We are really humble and no-one is getting carried away. We have shown we can play consistently as we have proved over the last 40 games.
"Our current record is play-off form but we have to continue working hard. We are pleased but we have to remain humble.
"I was really pleased with the performance, particularly for the first 60 minutes.
"After that we allowed the game to become a little too open. I think this was due to Bristol's formation and the way they tried to attack.
"We took a little bit of gamble with our tactics by playing our wingers higher up the pitch. We felt that this could give their wing-backs a problems. We got a little reward for these tactics.
"We pressed the ball higher up the pitch and got our just rewards.
"Where I felt we could have done better was their two goals as we were a little open. I've made my point in the post-match talk."
Donaldson took full advantage of Bristol City's defensive shortcomings to go on a goalscoring spree.
He scored twice before Jonathan Kodjia gave Bristol City hope of getting back into the game with a close-range finish.
But Donaldson was on hand to convert a 40th-minute penalty to restore Birmingham's two-goal advantage, and after Kodjia notched his second goal in the 66th minute, a fine header from Jonathan Grounds deflated the Robins.
Bristol City boss Steve Cotterill said: "I was somewhat frustrated. We created enough chances to have won. We definitely feel hard done by with the penalty. It was a big moment in the game for us just after we had hit the post.
"It was never a penalty. It was actually a booking. The referee must have been the only person in the ground who thought it was a penalty.
"I'm frustrated because I feel we conceded soft goals. We created enough chances but we've got to take them."
Cotterill feels his new-look defence will eventually settle as they adjust to life in a higher division.
He said: "I wish they had the belief in themselves that I have in them. But it might take a little while for the penny to drop.
"I don't think they will become demoralised. It would have been easy to give up when it was 3-1 but they came back and kept going.
"We will not change our mentality and when we can cut out the mistakes we will become a force in the Championship."
