Gold calls for Christmas cheer-up

David Gold is urging Birmingham’s players to lift the morale of the club by causing an upset against Manchester United in tonight’s Carling Cup quarter-final.

The Blues are badly in need of some early Christmas cheer as they find themselves second-from-bottom of the Barclays Premiership after Saturday’s dismal 4-1 defeat at Manchester City.

City manager Steve Bruce described that showing as “pathetic” and “inept” and is likely to make changes for the visit of Alex Ferguson’s side.

Gold said: “We need everyone, not just the players and the manager, but also the board and the fans to stay resolute. We are in the worst situation we’ve been in since I’ve been at the club.

“It is backs to the wall and every single one of us has got to pull together to get out of this mess. We are certainly not dead and buried.

“I know loads of people will be saying things like: ‘I’ll be happy to lose on Tuesday as long as we can win the next three league games,’ but there is no doubt that winning any game is a habit.

“It would also be a morale booster. I will go into the game feeling: ‘If we win this, it sets the players up for the Christmas games and the confidence starts coming back.’”