Birmingham City manager John Eustace hailed Oliver Burke as ‘sensational’ after his performance against Watford on Saturday.
Birmingham’s unbeaten run came to an end at the hands of the Hornets as they lost 2-0, courtesy of two injury time goals from Mileta Rajovic and Ryan Andrews.
“Oli Burke’s performance for that first hour was very good. He hasn’t played much football at all, so to get an hour out of him is good,” Eustace told the Birmingham Mail.
“Craig (Gardner) and Frank (McParland) have brought him to the club knowing what we want. On the turnover he is sensational really, with the pace he can bring to the team.
“It’s important we give him a platform to perform week in, week out to show everyone what a talent he is. We are fortunate to have him at the club and he will only get better.”
John Eustace on referee’s performance
Eustace, whilst frustrated with the result, was also frustrated with the performance of the referee, Keith Stroud.
“I was disappointed with the inconsistency of the referee today, but it is what it is,” said Eustace.
“No excuses, I still expect us to defend properly with 10 men, like we did with 11.
“We could see there were a lot of cheap fouls. They managed the game very well without getting punished.”
However he did agree with Stroud’s decision to send off Lee Buchanan.
“I can’t remember the first one clearly enough, but on the second one he did give him a little tug.
“To go down to 10 men, with four or five minutes to go, was obviously very frustrating. I am disappointed that we conceded because I still felt we could defend the cross better.”