By Richard Williams
February 24 2005

Steve Bruce has challenged his Birmingham City side to build on the recent impressive displays seen at home to Southampton and Liverpool and go beyond last season's achievements of a 10th place finish. Following a disappointing defeat to Leicester City which put even the remotest hopes of European football aside to the following season and heralded the beginning of a disappointing final run of form that saw a return of just 8 points from the final 33, including a solitary 4-1 victory against Leeds United.

Commenting on that drop in form, Bruce recognised, “Everyone remembers that we tailed off. It was disappointing not to win in our final eight games. Hopefully it's not going to happen again and with people coming back at the right time, that's got to help us.”

Following a run of four consecutive defeats Blues have bounced back since the introduction of some fresh legs on the deadline day, with Walter Pandiani, Mehdi Nafti and Jermaine Pennant all arriving on loan. This has heralded a significant upturn in the sides’ fortunes, reflected in the level of the team’s recent performances.

Bruce has responded to his side’s recent performances by demanding a similar level of performances, "The performance against Liverpool and in the first half against Southampton - I want us to recreate that. We were excellent. I want us to try and get to where we want to be, which is to improve on where we ended up last season”.

Birmingham can certainly look forward to this final push with Muzzy Izzet and Stan Lazaridis expected to return within the next few weeks and the upturn in form of the likes of Stephen Clemence and Julian Gray.

Given the return of several players and the apparent resolve of Bruce, Birmingham should be looking forward to taking up their manager’s challenge particularly given the forthcoming fixtures of Crystal Palace, West Brom and then the salivating home clash with Aston Villa.