A TITLE-CHASING club south of the border could be seeking a permanent deal for their star loanee from Ibrox.
The team’s manager has made it clear that he has been ‘encouraged’ by the Rangers man as he suits the style of play that has the side looking destined for success.
He’s enjoyed a revival at Birmingham City[/caption]
Kieran Dowell has only been on loan at Birmingham City since January, but he has already made his mark on the plans of boss and former assistant to Brendan Rodgers at Celtic, Chris Davies.
The attacking midfielder was in the starting XI within a couple of weeks of his move and has only dropped out for around 150 minutes out of 14 games.
Having scored two goals this month, manager Davies has sang his praises.
Speaking to Birmingham Live, he said: “He’s definitely someone I have been really encouraged by since he’s come in and from my point of view I want players like that here.
“My communication is always around that stuff with Craig (Gardner – director of football), squad management and planning and who I think can really help us, and I think Kieran has done really well.
“I don’t know the exact context of what’s happening there with him, but it’s definitely something we will have to look into.
“Players come in and you get a feel for them straight away, early on you could see his craft, his intelligence, and I think he suits the style of play I want to play as well.
“Maybe with other managers he’s been under, they haven’t really been playing him to his strengths. That’s not a criticism of them, that could be the same for me with other players as well. He’s fitted in well to how we play.
“You can see he’s loving it. He’s played a lot of football.
“Like many of the players, Kieran was probably playing too much football before the international break and that was down to my decisions to keep playing some of them because we were having success but it was hard for them to go again every three or four days.
“He’ll benefit from the break. I think the fans will see that. He will graft, he will work, but he’s got a bit of quality.
“He’s had some decent moments to score or create for us and I think there’s a few more moments that he’s got for us between now and the end of the season.”
The Brum are sitting nine points clear at the top of EFL League One with two games in hand over nearest competitors Wrexham.
This is in no small part thanks to striker Jay Stansfield who has 16 goals, but Dowell has managed to dethrone the talisman as penalty taker lately.
He scored just two goals in 32 appearances at Ibrox and massively struggled with injury, but in his current renaissance former Aston Villa hero Lee Hendrie was another who touted the 27-year-old as a must-keep recently.
But Dowell isn’t the only familiar face at St Andrew’s, as he’s one of THREE recent Rangers departures, who all play alongside a former Celtic man, a former Hearts man, and two current Scotland stars.
Centre-back Ben Davies is also on a temporary deal from Ibrox and he’s become a mainstay in the defence, also earning praise and demands to stay beyond the summer.
Grant Hanley and Lyndon Dykes play alongside Dowell[/caption]
Scott Wright and Ben Davies also ply their trade for The Brum after leaving Ibrox[/caption]
There’s no obligation to buy, but the centre half has said he’s enjoyed getting a run of games.
Scott Wright made the permanent switch last summer after three years with the Gers, while Japanese international Tomoki Iwata has solidified his place in the team after being let go from Parkhead after less than two years.
Ex-Jambo left-back Alex Cochrane plays week in, week out after he left Tynecastle for a reported seven-figure fee.
But Steve Clarke‘s regular call-ups Lyndon Dykes and Grant Hanley have both had their struggles with The Blues.
Dykes has been out injured since last month which meant he missed Scotland’s Nations League games against Greece, but he had been in and out of the team before then.
Hanley made a winter transfer from Norwich where he had been massively struggling for game time, but since joining in late January he’s managed just 36 minutes on the pitch despite playing two full games for Scotland last week.
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