Gary Rowett ‘underwhelmed’ by 5/10 Birmingham City player vs Preston

Birmingham City interim manager Gary Rowett was underwhelmed by midfielder Jordan James' performance against Preston North End on Easter Monday.

The 19-year-old, dealt a 5/10 in Birmingham World's player ratings, often loitered in possession and lacked his usual conviction with forward passes. Deployed in a central attacking midfield role, the hope was for more of an impact in the final third but James was replaced by Andre Dozzell in the 54th minute.

"I don't know, I was really looking forward to seeing him in that position, that eight. It's a good position for him to cause problems but I just felt he maybe struggled in those areas, to get into the game a bit," Rowett told Birmingham World during the post-match press conference.

"Sometimes, you can wait to save a player's confidence but sometimes you've got to make a decision to change it. But he's a top player, a very good player and he'll get that opportunity to go again. Today just wasn't his day and we needed something a little different in there," Rowett continued.

Courtesy of a composed finish from Jay Stansfield, Blues went on to beat Preston by one goal to nil, so James' poor showing will quickly be forgotten. The midfielder, perhaps still a little fatigued from playing 120 minutes for Wales against Poland, has five days to recover before Birmingham take on Leicester City away.