'Not a coincidence' - Thomas Kaminski reveals how he foiled Scott Hogan and Birmingham City
The latest Birmingham City news and views from BirminghamLive as Blackburn Rovers goalkeeper opens up about his Blues display
Blackburn goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski says the homework Rovers had done before their fixture with Birmingham City informed a display which saw him named man of the match as the Ewood Park outfit won their third game in a row.
Rovers went 2-0 up through goals from Sam Gallagher and Adam Wharton – but had to withstand pressure from Blues throughout, indeed even before they had mounted an attack worthy of the name Tahith Chong had clattered a shot back off Kaminski’s post.
However, one the rhythm of the game was established, with Blackburn protecting their lead the Belgian emerged as a central character, twice denying Scott Hogan.
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A neat exchange with George Hall put the Republic of Ireland striker in behind the defence to the right of goal in the first half, then a through ball from Juninho Bacuna sent Hogan one-on-one early in the second. Each time Kaminski produced a save.
Bacuna was himself twice foiled by Kaminski who went on to seal the victory late on with a flying save to turn aside Lukas Jutkiewicz’s firm header from a Manny Longelo cross.
Speaking afterwards the 30-year-old revealed the secret behind his success. “I felt quite confident before the game,” he told Rovers TV. “The one in the first half on the angle, it’s quite hard because it was high up and I’m always told to stand up as much as I can, although it’s harder said than done. I got a good feeling after making that save.
“It’s funny because the exact same scenarios we had in the game today were the ones we were working on the day before the game. It’s not a coincidence, we watch the opposition well before games.
“I could help the team today and I’m sure the team will help me as well. That’s what they’ve done this season. It was a real team performance."
Kaminski’s manager Jon Dahl Tomasson was fulsome in his praise after the game, saying: “Birmingham have showed extremely good form over the last weeks they have done a good job, second half we gave them those chances but Thomas helped us through. Best of the best, world class is maybe the right word. He played a brilliant game, he saved us today.”
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