Birmingham City player ratings from Wrexham draw with one 9/10 but several 5s

Birmingham City dug deep to earn a valuable point in an entertaining 1-1 draw away at fellow League One promotion hopefuls Wrexham on Thursday night. Ollie Rathbone’s superb early wonder strike was cancelled out by a deflected Lyndon Dykes header before a cagey affair played out at the Racecourse Ground, ram-packed by 13,237 loud and proud supporters - including 1,280 Blues fans.

Birmingham dominated possession in the opening exchanges but Wrexham were a threat on the counter and took a surprise lead in the 10th minute through Rathbone, who curled in a belter from 20 yards to give an at-full-stretch Ryan Allsop no chance. Taylor Gardner-Hickman was blatantly fouled by Ollie Palmer to start the dangerous transition phase but referee Will Finnie waved on play. Rathbone deserves a lot of credit for his strike but the goal really shouldn’t have stood.

It didn’t take long for Blues to restore parity as Lyndon Dykes nodded Marc Leonard’s 18th-minute corner into the danger zone and the ball deflected off Wrexham’s George Dobson to find the net. Alfie May and Ethan Laird both tried claiming the goal - and it wasn’t exactly clear for a number of minutes as everyone seemed to get a slight nick on the ball - but Dykes received the official recognition after plenty of deliberation.

The rest of the first half was very cagey, not helped by the hesitant and unassertive refereeing from Finnie. Wrexham were a good match for Blues physically but Chris Davies’ side were able to dictate the play with patience, frustrating the home fans. The Red Dragons reminded Birmingham of their threat right at the end of the half, though, as Rathbone struck merely inches over the bar when reacting to a loose ball in the area.

Wrexham came out of the blocks firing at the start of the second period and caused all sorts of problems from wide areas. Ryan Barnett’s deep cross had to be tipped over acrobatically by Allsop before James McClean went near with a close-range stab at goal and substitute Steven Fletcher’s powerful header forced a strong hand from Allsop.

That wasn’t all as Wrexham, encouraged by a mightily loud Racecourse crowd, somehow didn’t find the net in a goalmouth scramble, there was a huge penalty shout denied for a bundling over in the box and Ben Davies nodded away from Fletcher at the last second after a terrific McClean cross. There was one last chance for Blues as Gardner-Hickman shot hard and low from 25 yards but his attempt fizzed narrowly wide. Birmingham, backs to the wall, were able to hold on for what felt like a valuable point.

Blues player ratings

Ryan Allsop - 8

Made a superb save to deny Fletcher late on and did well with his distribution throughout, especially considering how high Wrexham pressed. Contributed a few other routine stops and couldn’t do anything about Rathbone’s brilliant strike.

Ethan Laird - 7

Stood up well to McClean for the most part, timing his tackles well. Provided decent width down the right in the first 30 minutes or so.

Christoph Klarer - 9

Insanely strong to limit the threat of Palmer and Lee. Put in an excellent last-ditch challenge to stop McClean scoring 20 mins in and made another brilliant sliding tackle on Palmer later in the first half. Looked just as solid in the second period as he stumped the hosts’ threat from wide positions.

Ben Davies - 8

Made so many important blocks and clearances from crosses in the second half, including a vital header away from Fletcher’s grasp and a last-ditch block at the death. Struggled with his passing out from the back, though, scuffing two or three well away from his intended targets.

Alex Cochrane - 7

Threw himself into plenty of ground duels and made his fair share of clearances when Barnett delivered in from his flank.

Marc Leonard - 7

Whipped in the terrific corner to the far post for Blues’ first goal and broke up the play effectively throughout.

Taylor Gardner-Hickman - 6

Dispossessed in the lead-up to Rathbone’s opener but not exactly as fault as Palmer clattered him from behind. Had the odd hairy moment with unconvincing passes back to Allsop. Went very close very late on with a long-range driver.

Scott Wright - 5 (off 66’)

Gave the ball away cheaply in the lead-up to Rathbone’s goal and struggled to make things stick in the attacking third in the first period. Improved a little in the second period with some better dribbles on the half turn.

Lyndon Dykes - 7

Regardless if it turns out to be his goal or not, he headed superbly into the danger area for 1-1. Proved a useful outlet up top as a target man.

Jay Stansfield - 6 (off 86’)

Not overly involved in the first half but was a bright spark when Blues got forward on the transition in the second 45. Went off for Bielik when Davies went defensive.

Alfie May - 5 (off 83’)

Rather toothless up top as Scarr, Cleworth and O’Connor worked together to stop his runs in the channels. Made just 27 touches in his 83 minutes.

Keshi Anderson - 6 (on 66’)

Almost made an instant impact as he drilled an inviting low cross into the six-yard box but May couldn’t apply the finish. Didn’t do much else after that, however.

Lukas Jutkiewicz (on 83’), Krystian Bielik (on 86’) - N/A