Have no doubts about it Birmingham City have found their feet under the guidance of John Eustace. Like every club he had a handful of dissenters after three games at the helm at the blues. As Russell Martin did a year ago he is giving ‘some’ hope to a club who have had little in recent years.

At home Birmingham City attack quickly, in thirty one year old Harlee Dean they have someone who likes to own the penalty area at the back, and as he displayed at Stoke City on the weekend he scores goals as well. On loan Manchester United midfielder Hannibal Mejbri is the gel with his relentless running, he is tough and uncompromising on and off the ball, he will need some direct attention this evening. Dion Sanderson another loan player from Wolves has come out of recent encounters with some flawless performances in defence. Swansea’s provisional wing backs will do well to create the chances that are a part of Russell Martin’s game plan.

This is a game that a well earned away point should be celebrated.

Looking back to Burnley when the swans were mesmerised by the attacking flair and pace in the clarets line up, this game won’t be much different. We say that after those comments from Martin after the Wigan game on Saturday when his players were accused of not listening to the specific detail of the game plan. Every single swans selection tonight will have to be wide awake and ready to fight for possession all over the pitch. Scott Hogan is another player on form and once again an Irish international, he has bagged eight goals this season.

If our information is right then we will see certain changes tonight, attention has been paid to getting Jamie Paterson ready for ninety minutes and the defence which fell asleep early on in the last game we believe will see a change. Whether Martin has that ‘detail’ right over the last few days will become clearer later.

Swansea City really do need to take note of John Eustace after the 2-1 win at Stoke. "It was a magnificent performance from the lads without the ball and I'm really pleased with the performance. The spirit in the camp is fantastic and the way they got through that 95 minutes together was fantastic, I'm really proud of them. This is such a tough place to come and play any football, the wind and rain, the fans are right on top of you and the atmosphere is very hostile. The most important thing was that we came here, we were competitive and we looked after each other. It's a fantastic win." The expectation across those ‘pundits’ is for a home win based on recent performances and Swansea will have to rely upon the intensity they displayed at Watford and West Bromwich Albion to earn anything from this game.

Back in favour Jay Fulton knows exactly what the swans need to do this evening. “We’ve come away from the weekend disappointed, there’s no question about that,” he said. We’ve conceded two goals from corners, we have put a lot of work in on those areas and we just have to do a lot better than that.We gave ourselves a mountain to climb, and even thought it was us pushing late on for a winner it’s still frustrating because we made life difficult for ourselves. We need to start games better, to start games faster, to start games the way we have been finishing them. We should be starting the game at the right intensity because that’s what we prepare to do, and so that is something we are going to have to look at”

Maybe as well those Swansea players should take a long look at the away end this evening. This game is rearranged and many swans fans from all over the country have had to make plans to accommodate their travel to this game. Early finishes at work, a day taken off, the extra expense and every other factor which is an inconvenience have been made to attend todays game. We don’t want to see the dreadful (and it is) lack of energy, commitment and poor decision making tonight that has been the highlight of the last three games. That has cost the swans seven more points, those games were there to be won. This game on the other hand will run away with a home team win if one hundred percent effort isn’t applied for the whole of the game, not just bits of it.

Photographs licensed from Reuters / PA wire

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