A vital 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest on Saturday saw the Blues climb out of the relegation zone and gave the team a much-needed confidence boost ahead of a horrendous run of fixtures. Next up we face pre-season title favourites Middlesbrough, followed by games against the top two sides in the table, Sheff Utd and Wolves. Pessimists will look at that schedule and expect zero points, which could leave us bottom of the table by early December. But fans should take heart from the nature of the team’s hard-earned victory against a tricky Forest side.
Tomasz Kuszczak was in fine form between the sticks and the team battled bravely to keep a clean sheet after going ahead in the sixth minute. The Blues were disciplined, well-organised and combative, which bodes well for the challenges ahead. Defeats at the hands of Brentford and Barnsley were obviously disappointing, but if we can play with the heart, desire and passion shown in the Forest game and in the draw with Villa a few weeks ago they have a chance of getting something from any of the upcoming fixtures. Harry Redknapp said this team was good enough to finish in the upper echelons of the table, above Villa, and it is time for the lads to prove it, albeit under Steve Cotterill.
Nothing would send out a better statement of intent than getting results against the league’s best teams. First up is the trip to Boro and we have not done too badly in this fixture of late. Last season they were playing Premiership football but in the previous campaign – when they were promoted with 89 points – we drew twice against them. You have to go back more than three years for the last time the Blues lost to Middlesbrough and they should go there full of belief.
Boro were expected to cruise to the title this season after keeping together the majority of their Premiership squad and spending £32 million on Britt Assombalonga, Martin Braithwaite and Ashley Fletcher. However, they have won just seven out of 17 games and find themselves down in sixth place, 12 points behind league leaders Wolves. They have won just half their home games and Birmingham should not fear Garry Monk’s team, who lost 2-1 to Leeds last time out and may be low on confidence.
However, it is worth noting that the Blues have the Championship’s worst away record, with zero wins, one draw and seven defeats from eight games. That is shocking form and Middlesbrough will probably think they already have three points in the bag. The bookmakers have Birmingham down as huge underdogs: research betting websites before placing action and you will see that the Blues are all the way out at 5/1 to win the game, while Boro are as low as 4/6 and the draw is 3/1.
The cards are stacked against the side for this game, but adversity can often breed heroism and the players have a great chance of making a statement in this game.
Lee Carsley summed it up well after the Nottingham Forest game when he said: “The world is a better place with a win on a Saturday. What we need to do is to follow up this win at Middlesbrough on Wednesday with the mindset that we can go away and get a result. That will be the test.” Blues essentially need to find consistency as they have the ability to give any team in the league a good game, as they proved against the likes of Sheff Wed, Derby and Cardiff. Now they need to produce the goods week in, week out, starting at the Riverside on Wednesday.
Great blog as ever. Blues tend to do better against the better teams and certainly when the pressure is on. We usually lose against rock bottom sides and teams who can’t buy a win. With that logic expect three wins in the next three 😉
KRO