O'Connor can be equal of Phillips - McLeish
Mar 12 2009 by Andy Walker, Birmingham Post
Garry O’Connor is capable of sharing Kevin Phillips’ mantle of being Birmingham City’s most prolific goal-poacher according to manager Alex McLeish.
The sight of O’Connor on the Birmingham substitutes bench at Barnsley’s Oakwell ground on Tuesday night was a welcome one for a side desperately shy of goals this season.
Out of the Championship’s top ten teams, Birmingham have scored the least number of occasions (44) compared to free-scoring Wolverhampton Wanderers (68) and Reading (64). Even Ipswich Town in tenth place have pocketed six more goals than Blues.
While Birmingham’s lack of goals doesn’t appear to have had any profound effect on their bid for promotion, it would be comforting for McLeish if at least one of his strikers started scoring.
It has been seven games since one of his forwards scored and that was when Marcus Bent, now another player on the treatment table, stabbed home from close range against Nottingham Forest.
Which is where the imminent return of O’Connor comes in. The Scotland international is likely to play some part of Saturday’s match at Doncaster Rovers and, while not wanting to put too much pressure on his shoulders, Birmingham need him to rediscover the goal-scoring knack that he displayed before his groin problem reared at Queen Park Rangers in October.
McLeish has no doubt as to what a fit-again O’Connor would bring to the field after eulogising over the former Hibernian player’s talent. “I did say to Garry at the end of last season when there was three or four games left in the Premier League: ‘look, I will leave you out of the 16, you get yourself ready for next season’”, McLeish said. “I said it was time for him to let the Birmingham fans see how good a player he was. He’s two-footed, not got lightning-fast pace but he’s quick, a handful and he’s good in the air, he’s a good footballer.
“He’s one of the best finishers in training alongside Kevin, Garry started to take that on to the field at last (before his injury).
“But that was the reason why I brought in extra competition because sometimes the guy on the sidelines helps the guy who is on the pitch keep strutting his stuff. O’Connor has got other strings to his bow. He links in extremely well, two good feet and boy does he love finishing.”
O’Connor’s compatriot and one-time Birmingham target, Kris Boyd, has once again had doubt cast over his future with Rangers. The prolific striker, who was subject to a £5.75 million bid from Birmingham in January, was sent home from training on Tuesday following an argument with manager Walter Smith.
n Birmingham’s on-loan winger Scott Sinclair has been named in the England Under-20 squad to face Italy in a friendly fixture on March 31 while Birmingham’s on-loan defensive duo Jared Wilson and Krystian Pearce are on the stand-by list for the England Under-20 and Under-19 squads respectively.
