"Great moment" - Current and ex-Birmingham City stars react to Lukas Jutkiewicz, Barnsley exploits | OneFootball

Jutkiewicz provided Blues supporters with yet another memorable moment on Saturday afternoon.

Birmingham City supporters had already been treated to a goal fest at St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park heading into the final minute of their clash with Barnsley on Saturday afternoon, before cult hero Lukas Jutkiewicz rounded off proceedings with yet another iconic moment.

The 36-year-old was played in by fellow goalscorer, Kieran Dowell, and after an initial low drive was thwarted by young Tykes goalkeeper, Kieren Flavell, the experienced striker put the rebound home in front of the Tilton, sending the vast majority of a 25,018 crowd into delirium.

Jutkiewicz has seen it all in B9 since initially arriving on loan from Burnley in 2016 under Gary Rowett, before making his temporary switch permanent for a £1m fee just four months later, and has etched himself into club folklore for an array of hard-working performances and memorable goals during a lengthy association with the club.

Where his long-term future lies remains to be seen, as Blues look to secure promotion as early as Tuesday night in the first of two encounters with Peterborough United in the next seven days, with the second of those also representing a further shot at glory in the EFL Trophy final at Wembley Stadium.

Unsurprisingly, 'Juke' has left an impression on plenty of current and former teammates in the West Midlands, and plenty of them took to social media to celebrate his second goal of the season and first at St Andrew's since August 2023, just six minutes after replacing Jay Stansfield as a late substitute.

Current and former Birmingham City stars react to special Lukas Jutkiewicz moment vs Barnsley

The veteran forward's late strike sparked a euphoric celebration in the home quarters of the stadium, with every player of a Royal Blue persuasion - including goalkeeper Ryan Allsop, who ran the length of the pitch - taking in the moment with the club's most senior player.

The goal was also captured by official club channels, with a video caption stating: "This. This reaction is what Lukas Jutkiewicz means to Birmingham City Football Club. 💙"

Among those in the comments on Birmingham's aforementioned Instagram post were former teammates Michael Morrison and Maikel Kieftenbeld, who showed their affection towards the striker with a simple blue heart emoji - a message which was also posted by Dowell, who has now netted four times in just 14 league appearances for Chris Davies' side on loan from Rangers.

His fellow teammate and substitute Marc Leonard was also among the swath of Bluenoses who described the moment as one of the best in a famous season in this part of the Second City, with former shot-stopper-turned-goalkeeping coach Maik Taylor posting "Legend!! Such a great moment!!"

Lukas Jutkiewicz reacts to his latest Birmingham City goal

The Southampton-born man took his overall tally to 68 goals in 352 appearances as a result, and Birmingham boss Chris Davies praised his influence at the club during the 40-year-old's first season in management, describing him as an "outstanding professional," and that he "couldn't have wished for a better example to the rest of the team."

Jutkiewicz was also on post-match media duties, and was able to describe how much the celebrations meant to him, even in a slightly "embarrassing" way.

“It’s almost a little embarrassing because the lads have worked so hard for 90 minutes,” he said via Birmingham Live.

“It was a really nice moment for me to be able to share it with my teammates – even Ryan Allsop making the run up to celebrate was really, really special.

“To have that moment at the Tilton meant a lot to me," he added.

The striker has seen his minutes this season largely reduced to substitute cameos, playing just 511 minutes in a season in which Birmingham continue to smash a plethora of club records, which included a record points haul of 92 and 10 home league victories in a row for the first time after Saturday's eight-goal thriller.

Davies has challenged the forward to add to his two goals with eight games of the season left in all competitions. Regardless, if he is to step away from playing matters in a month's time, he will always be held in high regard by everybody associated with the club.