Birmingham City: Chris Davies’ side 99.9% likely to win League One, but when?

When promotion happens, thoughts will inevitably turn to next season and Birmingham’s chances of returning to the Premier League.

Davies likes to drill the mantra “step by step” into his players as he steers the club back towards the second tier.

Critics may point out Birmingham’s spending power and the global profile of its owners make Davies’ job easier.

While that is hard to argue against, it is also worth pointing out such preconceptions can make it tough for a manger’s impact to break through in the wider consciousness.

“Davies seems only to receive grudging credit outside the confines of the West Midlands,” Wilford said.

“His first manager-of-the-month award only arrived after a 13-point February. It is easy to point to the playing budget and look at Blues’ Championship quality recruitment and underestimate what he has achieved in year one.

“Birmingham City fans had lived through a decade of relegation scraps, off-field chaos and decline.

“Now, they have ambitious and credible owners who have backed a young coach who shows an astonishing work ethic, a clear footballing strategy and an impressive ability to motivate.

“Many will wait to judge how he operates in the Championship. It is hard to imagine that Davies and the club won’t rise to that challenge very well too.”

Back in September, Krystian Bielik went on to say that Birmingham “would be a Championship club again in six months”.

That is this month. He won’t be far out.

BBC Sport was speaking to BBC Radio WM Sports Editor Richard Wilford.