Lukas Jutkiewicz never fails to deliver quality work. In the final ten minutes of Tuesday night’s Championship match against Hull City, he rose highest in a blue shirt, just as he did in the FA Cup match played on the same field a few months prior. He met Alex Pritchard’s brilliant center to head home and guarantee Blues departed with a point.

At the age of 34, Jutkiewicz is nearing the end of his contract with the team, thus he may not be at the top of his game. Currently in his eighth season with St Andrew’s, he has scored at least twelve goals in three of the previous seven campaigns. Under different managers, he has frequently been the driving force behind the team’s survival and has amassed numerous crucial goals.

However, he has demonstrated that he is still capable of scoring when given the ideal supplies. Just like in the FA Cup, Pritchard’s late aerial ball into the area allowed Jutkiewicz, who is exceptionally skilled in the air, to score. This was similar to Cody Drameh’s outstanding delivery from the right between these two teams. Given how close the score is still at the bottom, you can only hope he has a few more goals left to score. He duly seized the chance to score his fourth goal of the campaign.

Jutkiewicz has become a contemporary club icon, which may not have surprised many when he joined the team under Gary Rowett in 2016 to supplement the choices of Clayton Donaldson and Che Adams (the latter having only arrived himself that same summer). He has made 336 starts in all competitions as of this writing, and he is one game away from 200 league starts. These days, only few football players manage such stats.

That’s on Jutkiewicz, though, who has played with a plethora of different Blues teammates throughout the course of his 11-manager tenure (excluding Mark Venus, Lee Carsley, and Steve Spooner). He has consistently shown that he is a player who can be selected, and he has also proven himself capable of playing in any situation or fashion. Both personally and professionally, Jutkiewicz has expressed gratitude for the prolonged visit.

“As a family, we’ve been really fortunate to be able to establish roots here,” Jutkiewicz said in a recent interview with Edmonton’s Bred A Blue podcast. “I’ve been here for eight seasons, and we started a family about the same time. It’s worked out so beautifully that I feel like this is my club. I’ve had a great experience being here.

“It’s actually a lot like Everton in that it’s a working class team with supporters that expect hard work, running, tackles, and dedication from their players.” I have nothing but praise for this club.”

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