Exclusive: Dom Goodman names one thing Birmingham City must fix to seal play-offs spot | OneFootball

Don Goodman has exclusively told FLW his verdict on Birmingham's play-off hopes

Don Goodman believes that Birmingham City can still contend for promotion this season if they can find a creative spark to improve their attacking output.

Chris Davies is under mounting pressure to improve results, with the team falling to 15th in the table with their current run of form.

Even though they’ve just earned promotion from League One, expectations are high at St. Andrew’s that the club can compete for a place in the Premier League.

The Midlands outfit earned an impressive 111 points to clinch the third division title last year, and have since invested heavily in improving the first team squad.

But Birmingham have scored just 11 goals from their opening 12 fixtures, leading to them earning 15 points from a possible 36.

Don Goodman raises Birmingham goal scoring concern

Goodman has claimed that it hasn’t been as poor of a start as it seems at first glance for Birmingham because they are still only four points behind sixth place Charlton Athletic.

He’s highlighted their lack of goals as their biggest issue, suggesting that an extra creative spark could be the difference between staying 15th and actually being in the mix for a top six finish.

“Birmingham City are an interesting one, aren’t they? First three games I thought they were excellent, and they looked a real danger,” Goodman exclusively told Football League World.

“They’ve just lost their way a little bit from those lofty standards.

“But we’re calling it a poor start to the season because they find themselves in 15th place currently, but when you look at the bare facts, they are just four points off a play-off spot.

“So, a promoted side from League One, a quarter of the way through the season, four points off a play-off spot, in reality you’d say that’s not a bad start.

“But I think Birmingham are expecting so much better.

“The obvious area they have to improve is scoring goals, just 11 in their 12 games is not going to cut it.

“They just need to find that creative spark, and if they do that they’re still in the conversation.”

Birmingham have won just one of their last six league games, which has seen them fall into the bottom half of the table.

The Blues have not competed in the Premier League since 2011, but their American owner Tom Wagner is keen to see the club back in the top flight sooner rather than later.

If results aren’t turned around in the coming weeks, then Davies’ position at the club could be in danger.

Next up for Birmingham is a home clash against Portsmouth on 1 November in a 3pm kick-off.

Birmingham’s attacking output needs to improve

Birmingham were a great attacking force last season, so it’s been surprising that they’ve been so blunt in front of goal lately, especially given their summer signings.

Kyogo Furuhashi arrived with a lot of expectations, but he has failed to deliver so far, with zero goals or assists to his name from 11 appearances in the Championship.

Jay Stansfield has five of their 11 goals so far, so it is the rest of the team that needs to pick up the slack a little, as you cannot rely on just one player to be finding the back of the net.

A tally of fewer than one goal a game isn’t good enough to compete for a play-off place, so this is an obvious area Davies must improve in the coming weeks in order to keep the club’s promotion hopes alive.