Birmingham City find themselves in a worrying position in the Championship table right now.
The Blues suffered another damaging blow with a 1-0 defeat to Watford on Saturday afternoon.
As a result of that loss, they have taken just one point from six games since manager Tony Mowbray temporarily stepped back from his role for medical reasons.
That has left them 21st in the second-tier standings. Currently, they are only outside the relegation zone on goal difference.
With eight games of the season left to be played, they are therefore far from certain to avoid relegation this season.
However, it seems some connected with Birmingham City, are at least taking hope from some of the fixtures they still have to play this season.
Birmingham City get run-in message
Next up for the Blues after the international break is a trip to Loftus Road to face QPR. Their hosts in that game are currently just one point above them in the table.
They also have games to come against Preston North End, Leicester City, Cardiff City, and Coventry City.
The season then ends for Birmingham City with back to back games against fellow struggles Rotherham United and Huddersfield Town, before concluding with play-off chasing Norwich City.
Now, Birmingham Mail journalist Joe Chapman believes that may give them a chance of avoiding the drop into the third-tier.
Speaking on The Keep Right On Podcast about the fixtures Birmingham City still have to play, the reporter said:
“I think it’s relatively kind, if you take Leicester out of it, who remarkably have almost dropped back into the play-off places now, it’s otherwise a pretty decent one.
“Coventry you’d think will have a bit to play for. I’m not exactly sure when the dates fall for the FA Cup semi final, there’s a possibility that that might impact their team selection around that time possibly. Norwich you’d think might possibly still have something to play for on the last day, they might still have to win to book a top six spot.
“Other than that, I’d say it’s a fairly inviting one, on paper anyway. Rotherham you’d think with three games to play will be relegated. Cardiff a little bit like Watford and Middlesbrough aren’t going anywhere, I wouldn’t say Preston have more than an outside chance of making the top six at this point. Huddersfield looks a huge game at the end of April.
“You take every game obviously. The next one is the more important of any of the above, because of the fact it is the next one and it comes against a direct rival, so I think they could have it a lot worse.”
Blues have chances to get themselves safe
As Chapman has stated here, there are plenty of opportunities for Birmingham City to get the points they need to avoid relegation.
QPR and Huddersfield Town are directly around the Blues in the table. Meanwhile, Rotherham United look to have been cut adrift at the bottom of the table.
Those three are therefore all games they could be targeting for wins. However, so close to the end of the season, that clash with Huddersfield Town is one where they may have very little margin for error, with the Teriers showing some signs of improvement under new manager Andre Breitenreiter.
Preston North End and Cardiff City have both been inconsistent this season, while Coventry City have a distraction with their FA Cup run.
As a result, those are also games where Birmingham City may be able to exploit the circumstances to pick up some important points.
Elsewhere, the seemingly imminent return to the club of former manager Gary Rowett on an interim basis, could help to galvanise the squad into picking up some more positive results.
With that in mind, there may be reasons for Birmingham City to be positive going into the final run-in, if they can get their approach right.