Kieran Dowell has hit the ground running at Birmingham City after joining the Blues on loan from Rangers this January.
The ex-Everton and Norwich City midfielder, 27, has a difficult 18 months in Glasgow where Kieran Dowell struggled to break into the Rangers starting XI.
But the midfielder has had no such issue south of the border, bursting onto the scene and netting his first goal for the English League One leaders this week.
Birmingham City manager Chris Davies admits he’s been ‘very impressed’ by Kieran Dowell’s start to life at St Andrews and there are big hopes Rangers could cash in this summer.
The player himself has been speaking with Birmingham Live and admits he’s ’buzzing’ with how things have gone since moving to the Blues.
Kieran Dowell ‘buzzing’ with Birmingham start
“I’m buzzing with the start,” said Dowell, speaking after nabbing his first goal in the 4-0 win over Cambridge United.
“It was nice to go into the starting line-up so quickly, I think that’s helped me to settle in and build up relationships with the players who I’m around on the pitch.”
Dowell was also asked why he swapped Rangers for Birmingham and explained that the opportunity was all about ‘enjoying his football again’.
The midfielder made only two starts for Rangers this season and has hailed the ‘positive’ football that’s being played with the Blues.
“To be honest, it was probably just more of a chance to start enjoying my footy again,” said Dowell.
“I’ve come to a club that’s dominating the ball and playing positive football and that’s what it’s going like so far.
“The manager alluded to how dominant the team is before I came and he was right. In the games I’ve played it’s been good to be a part of, with the possession we have.”
Rangers midfielder hails ‘great manager’
Kieran Dowell has also hailed the role of Chris Davies in convincing him to swap Rangers for Birmingham City.
The midfielder has hailed the ex-Celtic assistant as a ‘great manager’ and opened up on playing multiple positions under Davies already this year.
The ex-Rangers star also admits that he likes playing off the right and cutting on to his left-foot, interesting comments given the lack of options to replace Vaclav Cerny at Ibrox.
“It’s a very fluid formation with the swing of Ethan going up on the right, so I guess the right side of the pitch probably suits me best as a left footer,” Dowell said.
“I’ve played a few positions so far and he spoke to me about that before I came to the club, so I knew that was to be expected. He’s a great manager and one of the reasons why I came to the club.”
In comments lifted from Birmingham City’s matchday programme, Dowell also went into greater detail about the switch from Rangers.
The midfielder admits that he hasn’t played as much as he would’ve liked in the 18 months at Ibrox and is grateful to Birmingham City for handing him an opportunity.
“The reality of my situation was that I have not played as much as I wanted to in the last 18 months, so I am grateful to the club for giving me that platform to play again,” said Dowell.
“It was probably the only club in League One I wanted to go to, because when I spoke with Craig Gardner and the manager I could see that this was not a League One team, not a League One club, so I was very excited to join and be a part of the journey over the next few months.”
