Danny Wright

Thu 18 February 2021 7:10, UK

Birmingham City fans seemed to be impressed by Rekeem Harper’s performance on Wednesday night as the West Brom loanee made his full debut for Blues versus Millwall.

It was certainly a night to forget for Blues fans as Aitor Karanka’s side lost 2-0 with relegation to League One looking increasingly possible.

Blues sit 23rd in the Championship, one point away from safety with no wins in their last six matches.

Harper has a massive job on his hands if he wants to play any role in helping Karanka’s side stay up this season but at least he’s starting games now.

Since joining Blues on loan in January, the West Brom academy product had made three appearances as a substitute before he was handed a start at The Den on Wednesday.

According to stats by WhoScored, Harper completed 86 per cent of his passes, which was by far the best among Birmingham players who started versus Millwall. He also completed all three of the dribbles he attempted, won two aerial duels, made one tackle and completed two interceptions.

Harper was arguably the stand-out player for Blues and that is what a lot of their fans suggested on Twitter during and after the match.

While one Birmingham supporter claimed Harper “done nothing“, most of the reaction to his full debut was positive.

Here is a selection of their tweets:

Harper will return to The Hawthorns in the summer with one year left remaining on his contract so the 20-year-old needs to prove his worth at St Andrew’s.

If Birmingham are relegated, that shouldn’t be held against him but individual performances in a very poor squad should be.

West Brom are likely to be a Championship club next season and a player like Harper might come in handy as an extra option in the middle of the pitch.

In other West Brom news, Kevin Phillips backs this Albion player to seal a “magnificent move” away from The Hawthorns.

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