“Villa supporters won't be happy” - Dwight Yorke makes Birmingham City and Blackburn Rovers prediction | OneFootball

Dwight Yorke has backed former clubs Blackburn Rovers and Birmingham City to stay in the Championship, although he acknowledged it could go down to the wire for Blues.

It’s shaping up to be a dramatic final few weeks of the season in the second tier, with a host of clubs still concerned about dropping to League One.

Rotherham will be finishing bottom of the league, but the other two spots remain unclear, with Huddersfield Town and Birmingham occupying them right now. Incredibly, the two meet on Saturday in what is a massive fixture for the clubs, and the Terriers will be officially relegated if they lose.

The likes of Stoke and QPR, on 50 points, should be safe, but they would still like to get another point on the board to ensure they can avoid a potentially tense final day.

The situation is bleak for Blues right now, and a 3-1 defeat to fellow strugglers Sheffield Wednesday on Sunday means that Blackburn are another club in trouble.

A shock 1-0 success at Leeds United appeared to be enough to keep John Eustace’s side in the league, but Rovers are only three points above 22nd with difficult games against Coventry and Leicester to come.

So, the pair are battling to stay up, and one man who will hope that both clubs are successful in their quest to do so is Yorke, as the Manchester United treble winner had spells with them towards the end of his career.

And, he explained why he thinks Rovers and Blues will preserve their status as Championship clubs, even if it could be a tense few weeks ahead at St. Andrew’s.

Speaking to TVSportGuide, Yorke said: “Birmingham City are on the knife edge of being relegated, but I think they will just about stay up by the skin of their teeth. Villa supporters won't be happy with me saying this, but I think it would be nice for Birmingham to at least stay in the Championship. Birmingham is a big city and it needs its clubs to be performing.

"Blackburn Rovers will be fine and stay up. They have really tailed off, but they looked really good at the start of the season. They just lost to Sheffield Wednesday, which isn't a great result but I think they're a strong enough club to stay up."

Blackburn and Birmingham must survive this season

The importance of remaining in the Championship is huge for both clubs, albeit for different reasons, so they will be hoping Yorke’s predictions come true.

With Blackburn, the ownership situation remains an ongoing concern, and relegation to the third tier is just going to increase the problems as their finances will be hit, and the future would be very worrying for the Ewood Park side.

At Birmingham, that’s not the case, as the new owners have huge ambitions, and they do seem like a club heading in the right direction.

Yet, relegation would obviously be a big spanner in the works, and it would delay, at best, the grand plans that Tom Wagner has. Plus, League One is a very difficult league, so if Blues remain stuck in the third tier for a lengthy time, they can forget about filling a brand new stadium and growing the brand across the globe.

So, they will both be desperate to stay up, and ultimately it’s now down to the respective players and managers to ensure they can get enough points on the board in the next two games.