Chris Davies explains ruthless hooking of Birmingham City winger Keshi Anderson
Keshi Anderson only lasted 34 minutes of Birmingham City's 3-2 defeat to Shrewsbury Town at The Croud Meadow
Chris Davies says a suspected dead leg played its part in his decision to hook Keshi Anderson in the 34th minute of Birmingham City’s defeat to Shrewsbury Town.
Blues suffered their second League One loss to Shrewsbury, who started the day at the foot of the table, after Aaron Pierre, John Marquis and Tom Bloxham’s goals. Tomoki Iwata’s strike shortly before half-time and Jay Stansfield’s late penalty gave Blues hope but they were deservedly beaten.
Davies reacted to Blues going behind by replacing Anderson with striker Lyndon Dykes and the winger looked bemused when his number went up. Anderson had just been booked for conceding the free-kick which led to Pierre’s goal and that might also have contributed to Davies’ decision to withdraw him.
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Asked about Anderson’s early substitution, Davies said: “Keshi had a bit of a dead leg. I thought he’d got a knock and he was struggling to run it off, so that was why I decided to make the decision then. I think it gave us a different dimension in the attack but it wasn’t enough.
“The whole day was not enough really. The players are extremely disappointed but the key thing for me is the standards, and attitude, and mentality that has been there since day one, we were too soft and that’s unacceptable and something that I won’t allow.”