Ryan Allsop

Allsop has earned his place the long way round, moving through loan spells and permanent deals at club after club before finding a settled home in Birmingham's goal. That well travelled career left him with a calmness that younger goalkeepers often lack, the composure that once helped him save a penalty against Chelsea's academy side in a Wembley final. Every club along the way asked something slightly different of him, and he took a piece of each into his current game.

The question that follows any well travelled goalkeeper is why it took so long to find a settled home, and whether that says something about consistency under real pressure. Some keepers simply need the right dressing room before their game clicks into place, rather than any deeper flaw in their shot stopping. Birmingham appear to have been that fit, though a long injury would quickly reopen the question.