Birmingham City face a huge few weeks in their battle to avoid relegation from the Championship.
The Blues are currently 21st in the Championship table, only outside the relegation zone on goal difference.
That comes after a run that has seen them take just one point from six games, since manager Tony Mowbray stepped back from his role for health reasons.
As a result of that, Birmingham City took significant action earlier this week. That saw them bring Gary Rowett back to the club as interim manager until the end of the season.
The 50-year-old will now look to guide the club to safety. Now, he has already been told of his first priority with the Blues’ squad.
Gary Rowett given clear squad message
With Birmingham City in a poor run of form right now, Rowett will have to turn things around quickly if he is to get them to safety.
Shane Ireland believes that given the quality they have shown previously in the campaign, confidence is the major priority for Rowett to improve win the squad.
Speaking on the Keep Right On Podcast about the first thing the 50-year-old needs to address at St Andrew’s, the journalist and Birmingham City fan said:
“I think the absolute number one thing is just getting confidence in the players. There players aren’t bad players. These players are players who have looked brilliant playing under Tony Mowbray and players who have looked brilliant playing under John Eustace, and in certain occasions looked brilliant under Wayne Rooney.
“There are some really good footballers in the team, and they need somebody to remind them of that. They’re in this position for reasons they’re in this position, everything that’s happened, has happened and it doesn’t really matter what’s happened. They’ve got eight games now to keep themselves in the league”
Rowett’s first game back in charge of the Blues comes on Friday 29th March. That sees them travel to Loftus Road to face QPR in a huge relegation six-pointer.
Birmingham City have a squad good enough to stay up
Confidence is surely something Rowett will have to address now he is back in charge of the Blues.
There can be no doubting that this squad are more than good enough to stay in the division.
Indeed, they even showed they may have the potential to at challenge to get out of it in the other direction earlier this season.
It should not be forgotten that Birmingham City were in the play-off places when Eustace was sacked.
As a result, they do have players needed in this team, who can now make the required contributions to keep them in the division.
The challenge for Rowett though is getting that out of them. But in both him and his assistant – another returning to the club in Paul Robinson – they do have two leaders who can provoke a response from their squad.
Combine that with the clear ability they have, and there are reasons for Birmingham City to be confident heading into the final stages of this relegation battle.