Cunningham gets back to basics

Captain Kenny Cunningham has revealed a “back to basics” approach is the key to Birmingham attempting to put their season back on track.

Cunningham had admitted his pride had been stung by the flood of goals leaked by City in November and early December, including a spell of 10 in just three games.

That was in stark contrast to the mean defence which kept eight clean sheets in the first 10 league games of the campaign.

A 4-0 home defeat by Blackburn was the lowest point and there were danger signs of Birmingham plunging towards the bottom half of the table.

But City’s previous trait of being difficult to beat resurfaced in the 2-0 win at Leicester and now they will be looking to continue in that mode in the home St Stephen's Day clash with Manchester City.

Cunningham told the Press Association: “After being so mean defensively at the start of the season, it was a blow to our pride to concede so many goals against Arsenal (0-3), Liverpool (1-3) and Blackburn (0-4).

“When things like that happen, you do try to get back to basics, keep things nice and simple, get your good habits back and that’s what we did at Leicester 10 days ago.

“We know if we keep clean sheets, we are going to give ourselves every chance of winning games because we have players who can nick you a goal.

“That game at Leicester wasn’t a thrill-a-minute game and at times it was quite dour but it was all about getting the right result and now we need to build on that in the games coming up.

“We are not the best footballing side in the league. We know that. But when we play to our strengths and have a good spirit, go about our business in the right manner, we can be a match for most sides in the division.”

Cunningham admitted he had tried to keep matters in perspective during Birmingham’s recent lean run of just one win and six points from nine games.

He said: “When we were winning games at the start of the season and getting so many plaudits, you have to keep your feet on the ground and not get caught up too much in all the hype and euphoria.

“Likewise, when you are losing games, it’s important you don’t beat yourself up too much. We’ve had a lot of criticism – and fair criticism to be honest.

“We have had some below-par performances. But it has been important that we kept things in perspective. This is still the same group of players who started the season so well.

“It is a case of keeping our heads, keeping our cool and getting back to what we are good at. Leicester was a start.”

Birmingham striker Christophe Dugarry’s suspension for his sending off against Blackburn will carry over into the Manchester City game after the postponement of last weekend’s game with Middlesbrough. But he will be side-lined in any case with his knee problem.