Birmingham City Need to Escape Bottom Three

Birmingham City are suffering from a post-Wembley hangover and now face a real battle to hold onto their Premier League status.

Defeat to Wigan Athletic last time out have left Birmingham sitting second-bottom of the Premier League and only one points ahead of the Latics behind them, with bookmakers having the Blues at 7/4 to be relegated.

One thing that plays into the Blues favour is how congested the bottom half of the league table is, with only six points separating 11th to 20th place.

It seems a long time ago that Birmingham were celebrating at Wembley as in the following weeks they have lost to West Brom, Bolton and Wigan and only gained one point when they played Everton.

They have not had a win since that cup triumph and Alex McLeish needs to work hard on the international break to increase confidence throughout the squad.

Birmingham face a massive challenge to avoid the drop and they need to turnaround their fortunes as many of their rivals in the lower half of the Premier League table have started putting good runs together.

Only six wins from 29 games does not inspire confidence, but Birmingham have a game in hand on those around them and victory in that game would lift them to the dizzy heights of 13th.

McLeish is 20/1 to be the next Premier League manager to lose his job and needs to ensure his side can win their homes games as they face tricky ties on the road against Chelsea, Liverpool, Newcastle and Tottenham.

It could turn out that games at St Andrews against Wolves (7/4 to be relegated) and Fulham in May could determine where they end up. The manager has admitted Birmingham are in a massive relegation scrap, but he is confident they can escape.

"We have got to be realistic. We are aware there is a very real threat to our Premier League status," he told the Birmingham Mail.

“But it’s a very achievable challenge we’ve got before us – it’s one we are capable of meeting.

“We have shown in the past this season that we are more than a match for anyone, any team, in this league."

Birmingham welcome Bolton to St Andrews in their next game on April 2nd and three points there could be the perfect catalyst to send them on a winning run over the remaining matches. The bookmakers price Birmingham at 6/4 to win the game, compared to 19/10 for the visiting Trotters.