Clayton Donaldson
One player that could provide a huge boost to Birmingham’s chances this season is Clayton Donaldson, who arrived on a free transfer from League One runners-up Brentford in July.
The 30-year-old has topped the scoring charts at Griffin Park for the last two seasons, where he maintained a better than one-in-three strike rate, bagging 53 goals in 155 games in three years at the club.
Donaldson provides genuine pace going forward – something that Blues were without last season, and a much sought-after striker’s knack of being in the right place at the right time that could prove invaluable to a team who struggled to field a stand-out striker for the entirety of the season. Federico Macheda was joint top goalscorer in the league with 10 goals despite making only 18 appearances in a loan spell from Manchester United.
Conversely, Donaldson has struck 42 times for Brentford in the last two league campaigns and albeit at a lower level than the Championship, it was these figures which convinced Lee Clark to stretch Birmingham’s restricted wage budget to accommodate the Bradford-born attacker.
The former Crewe striker has made an encouraging start to his Blues career, scoring four goals in am impressive pre-season where the St Andrew’s outfit won every match.
If Birmingham are to build on a torrid 2013/14 season, then Donaldson is likely to be vital to any progress made.