Blues boss Kieran McKenna has praised the impact striker Ali Al-Hamadi made after coming off the bench during Tuesday’s 1-0 home defeat to Crystal Palace.

The Iraq international battled through an adductor injury after joining the club from AFC Wimbledon in January and then underwent surgery at the start of the summer.

However, the 22-year-old has continued to have problems and in October, having made two Premier League sub appearances, had a further injection having pulled out of his international squad.

Al-Hamadi, who scored his only goal of the season in the on-penalties Carabao Cup defeat to his old club in August, was left on the bench for Iraq’s November fixtures, but returned to action as a late sub for the Blues against Manchester United last month.

On Tuesday, he replaced Liam Delap in the 79th minute and made an immediate impression and then won the free-kick from which Jacob Greaves hit the post with a header.

“I thought he got the rhythm of it really, really quickly and had a good impact,” McKenna said. “I know we didn't score a goal at the end, but I actually thought we'd done some decent things in terms of chasing the game.  
 
“Bar for the width of a post or four inches one direction or four inches in the other the direction, Jacob's header either goes in or hits Ali or hits Broady [Nathan Broadhead] or hits the post and comes back to Broady, and they probably found the one-inch slot between all of those options. 
 
“So I thought he had a good impact. He's training really well, I have to say. I've said it plenty of times that he's played with a lot of pain since he's been here, even at the start of the season when he was coming on in the Premier League.  
 
“Forget about the fact that it's a big, big, big jump, he’s also not been fully injury free. But I think he's feeling better at the moment and he's training well, and he got first minutes for a very long time against Man United. Then he got some more minutes the other day, stepped on and gave us some good things.”

Photo: Matchday Images

Westy added 19:30 - Dec 6 I like Ali Al-Hamadi. Not the most skilfull player and certainly does need to improve his match fitness but he has a physical presence that clearly unsettles defenders.
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hyperbrit added 20:54 - Dec 6 will replace Hirst imo
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Tractorboy58 added 21:57 - Dec 6 I think he looked good on Tuesday and be interesting to see how he develops - a good player and character and straining at the leash for his chance !
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johnwarksshorts added 08:11 - Dec 7 Always gives 100%.
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ringwoodblue added 09:00 - Dec 7 Ideally AAH would be out on loan at a Championship club to get more minutes but with Hurst being injury prone, we need him here right now. Still not convinced he has what it takes to step up to a PL level.
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Linkboy13 added 14:59 - Dec 7 Looking impressive in five minutes is easier than looking good in ninety minutes. Still not sure what his level is but it's not Premier league looks to be blowing a bit after five minutes. If he goes out on loan to a championship club he might not get a regular game a top league one club would be ideal.
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