Birmingham City warned over play-off aspirations ahead of Middlesbrough clash
Middlesbrough will travel to Championship rivals Birmingham City on Monday night.
Birmingham City head coach Chris Davies has warned his side they can not afford to let their standards slip as they look to kickstart their push for a play-off place when they host Championship rivals Middlesbrough on Monday night.
The ambitious Blues have enjoyed a largely positive first season back in the second tier after securing promotion as League One champions last time out. After another summer of strong investment, Davies’ side have improved as the campaign has wore on and appeared to be pushing for a top six spot after embarking on an eight-game unbeaten run over the last two months. However, that run came crashing down last Wednesday night as goals from Femi Azeez, Tristan Crama and Jake Cooper condemned the Blues to a 3-0 defeat at fellow play-off contenders Millwall.
The defeat at The Den and results over the weekend also meant Birmingham are now eight points adrift of the top six and they appear to have little room for error if they are to secure consecutive promotions and return to the Premier League for the first time since 2011. However, Davies has stressed his players must ‘make sure they are there every second of every game’ if they narrow the gap over the coming weeks and months.
He told the club website: “They didn’t give up. I can’t remember a game where we’ve given up. We’ve been there but it was the start of the game that cost us. We were second best on the basic stuff, not on the football, on the basic parts of the game and it’s a timely reminder. As I said to the players, if some needed it, maybe they did, maybe they didn’t, whatever, it’s a timely reminder for what is required in this league. We have 12 games to go and we are going to have to make sure we are there every second of every game.”
What has Kim Hellberg said about Birmingham City v Middlesbrough?
Speaking at his pre-match press conference, the Boro boss said: “I have all of the confidence in the world. It’s funny with this type of world. We lost one of our last nine games, we drew two games and when you look at them we created a lot of opportunities. The thing is we haven’t been good enough when we are shooting and that’s how we work sometimes. It’s the same as always, (we are) trying to react to it, trying to work from it. All the good things, all the things we can improve, we keep moving forward. We have done (overcome defensive opposition), the third most goals in the league since I arrived, I think the games look quite similar. I wouldn’t say Leicester was a low block, I think there are sometimes they defend low like we sometimes do and that’s what we are trying to do.”
Your next Middlesbrough read: Middlesbrough still in an 'unbelievable position' despite Leicester City draw - Hellberg