Opinion: The points of no return

Birmingham City fans have to be understandably frustrated with the start of the 2017/18 Championship campaign.

The injury bug has struck deep into the squad, limiting the availability of key players for team selection.

Isaac Vassell, Che Adams, and new club record signing Jota have all taken knocks and have missed game time.

Additionally, Arsenal loanees Cohen Bramall and Carl Jenkinson have also been hampered by injury.

Manager Harry Redknapp was true to his word about revamping the Blues squad ahead of the season. He brought in more than ten new faces, some of whom are great league prospects.

The belief was (and still is) that this new squad will turn Blues into a league powerhouse pushing for a place in the top six.

However, in order for Redknapp to achieve his goal of being promoted with Birmingham, there are a few things that need to happen.

First, we need to score goals.

It’s simple arithmetic; the more goals you score, the higher your goal difference will be and the probability of winning will be greater.

Possession is key in a game, but as the Leeds match showed us, unless you score, you have no chance of winning.

Blues have decent strikers with speed, but that doesn’t matter unless they find the back of the net. It’s fair to say that when all the strikers are healthy again, scoring goals won’t be too challenging.

Second, we need to be more creative in midfield. Against Leeds, Cheikh N`doye contributed one of his best performances in a Blues shirt since his move from Angers over the summer.

As great as it was, more than one player is needed to get the ball down the field and create chances. The more chances that are created, the more opportunities Blues can take an advantage over their opponents.

Finally, we need to pick up points.

A win against Preston on Saturday could be the catalyst that boosts the confidence of the players and show how well the new players buy into Redknapp’s philosophy.

A string of positive results can see Blues climb up the table and potentially be in a good position by the time Sky shows their matches in October.

If Blues can fix their defensive woes and focus on improving these three areas the chance of success in the next few months could see them closer to the end of the road heading to the Premiership, where they belong.