Kieran Dowell certainly seems to be enjoying his loan spell away from Rangers at Birmingham City.
The midfielder is shining in a Blues midfield that is gunning for promotion from England’s League One into the Championship, currently leading the division with a comfortable 11-point lead over Alex Lowry’s Wycombe.
Dowell played 90 minutes of a game for the first time in 14 months soon after securing his loan move to Birmingham during the January transfer window.
He was praised by manager Chris Davies for that display and continued to impress, branded “different class” for a performance against Bradford to put his new club on the road to Wembley.
When they faced Wycombe in a top-of-the-table clash, Dowell was lauded by Birmingham fans for helping them to a 1-0 win, while Lowry was conspicuous by his absence from the opposing team sheet.
And he continues to come up big for his loan side when it matters.
Rangers fans react to Dowell scoring penalty for Birmingham
The Blues faced Lincoln City yesterday in a league game and struggled to find the breakthough. That was, until being awarded a penalty on the 71st minute.
Who stepped up? You guessed it. And Dowell held his nerve to bury a perfectly executed spot kick and secure another vital three points. He even had the nerve to do a ‘no-look’ effort, looking one way but firing the ball into the opposite corner.
With Wycombe drawing away to Peterborough, it became even more important and bought them some more space at the top of the table.
For Rangers fans though, they couldn’t help but remember the Premier Sports Cup final when Dowell was subbed on in extra-time but then failed to step up during the unsuccessful shootout.
One wrote on social media: “Aw so he’s happy to take penalties now, f—-.”
Another said: “Sums that s—bag up, happily take one playing against jobbers but s— his pants in the cup final.”
This supporter wrote: “So he can take a penalty… Get him gone no matter what terminate his contact if we need to.”
While another added: “Probably injured himself.”
Dowell and Davies instrumental in Birmingham promotion push
Playing alongside Dowell in yesterday’s win was Rangers club mate Ben Davies.
After initially appearing to be signed as back-up, the centre half has now played 90 minutes in 19 of the last 20 league games.
Birmingham fans have state their desire for their club to strike a permanent deal for Davies, who has also been branded a “brick wall” for his solid backline displays.
Post-match yesterday, Davies was one of the players seen pushing Dowell towards the fans to take the acclaim for his matchwinning intervention.
