Scott Hogan's goals this season could prove crucial in Birmingham City's bid to secure their SkyBet Championship status.

It's a case of déjà vu for the forward. After his explosive start to life at St Andrew's last season, his six goals in his first seven appearances effectively saved the club from spiralling into League One. Once again, his goals could be the dividing line between safety and relegation for the Blues.

Happy Hogan

The 28-year-old is currently in his best form since last year when he first joined Birmingham on loan. Like his teammates, he has struggled to make much of an impact for most of this campaign. His recent performances have once again proved there is a talented player there, he just requires service and confidence. 

He thrived last season in his partnership with Lukas Jutkiewicz but he has mostly been deployed as a lone striker under Aitor Karanka. His vital match-winning goal in the bottom of the table clash with Sheffield Wednesday brought his tally for the season to six.

His recent performances have seen an increase in his work-rate off the ball. He has constantly chased down the ball when in the opponent's half, never giving the defenders time to deliberate on their next move. His movement has been impressive, notably the timing of his runs for attacks. For his goal at the weekend, he did excellently to read what Jérémie Bela was going to do and he made sure he stayed in front of Chey Dunkley to guide the ball past Keiren Westwood.

Hogan's positioning as well as his movement have been great in recent weeks. He has read offensive situations well and has been rewarded for it. Hopefully, this run of form will continue as the striker will look to keep his side out of the bottom three.

He needs service

The success of Hogan will be judged on the quality of the service he is supplied by wingers Bela and Ivan Sánchez. Bela and Sánchez have both assisted Hogan twice this season. The two wingers will be tasked with keeping up their own form and providing more goal-scoring chances for the forward. With said chances, Hogan will score goals.

Gary Gardner is another player who will need to help his wingers in creating chances for Hogan. He came very close to assisting the Irish international at Hillsborough - had it not been for some excellent defending from Liam Palmer. Gardner played an excellent pass across to Hogan who would have had a tap-in had it not have been cut-out by Palmer.

Gardner is an impressive carrier of the ball and can accelerate quickly when he drives forward. This is something he needs to do a lot more because it will catch a lot of defences out and will lead to many goal-scoring opportunities.

If Hogan manages to keep adding goals for his side in the remaining 15 fixtures, it would increasingly boost Birmingham's chances of survival.

 

 

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