Birmingham City will be looking to get back to winning ways in the Championship on Friday as they host Swansea City at St Andrew's.

After initially making the perfect start to life under the guidance of new manager Lee Bowyer by securing a 2-1 victory over Reading earlier this month, the Blues failed to back-up that display in their clash with Watford as they slumped to a 3-0 defeat.

As a result of that setback, the Blues' advantage over fellow strugglers Rotherham United has been cut to just three points.

Given that the Millers still have four games in hand over Birmingham, it is imperative that Bowyer's side start to pick up positive results on a regular basis if they are avoid relegation to League One.

However, in order to gain some much-needed momentum in the second-tier, the Blues will need to be at their very best if they are to defeat a Swansea side who are currently fighting for automatic promotion.

Speaking on the latest episode of the Sky Sports EFL Podcast about Birmingham, pundit Andy Hinchcliffe has suggested that it will be difficult for the club to stay in the Championship due to a tough set of fixtures between now and the end of the season.

The 52-year-old said: "They've got Swansea, Brentford and Cardiff to play and they've also got Rotherham, Forest and Derby.

"So even though Lee Bowyer has gone in there and there is a bit more aggression and a bit more hunger and desire, I still think with the games that they've got it's going to be very tricky.

"They are playing teams who are looking to finish maybe in the play-offs or go up and teams who are in and around them as well and that's not a good combination at this stage of the season."

Hinchcliffe later added: "They have got a lot of work to do and Bowyer's got to show what a quality coach he is to keep Birmingham up."

GIVEMESPORT's Joshua Cole says...

Whilst Bowyer ultimately failed in his quest to keep Charlton in the Championship last season in what was another year of turmoil at The Valley due to ownership issues, he will be determined to guide Birmingham to safety in May.

Although rivals Rotherham will put the Blues under a considerable amount of pressure if they win their games in hand, it could be argued that Bowyer's side should be focusing on overtaking the likes of Coventry City and Derby County in the second-tier standings.

By picking up more points than the teams above them, Birmingham may stay up alongside Rotherham instead of being relegated at their expense.

Providing that the Blues can seal a positive result on Friday, there is no reason why they cannot push on during the closing stages of the season.