"What a mess" - Richard Keys delivers brutal Birmingham City prediction | OneFootball

Birmingham City are one of several Championship clubs still with plenty to play for on the last day of the season.

This season - the first under the ownership of Tom Wagner and his investment firm Knighthead - has continued in a similarly chaotic vein compared to seasons gone by, and Blues are yet again staring relegation in the face with 90 minutes of football to save themselves.

There are various permutations heading into next weekend's clash against Norwich City, who know a draw at St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park will secure their own place in the play-offs, a result which could be enough for Birmingham depending on how Plymouth Argyle fare at home to Hull City - another side chasing the top six.

This season has been extremely well-documented as far as Birmingham are concerned, especially as the club hoped to have turned a corner following the fresh investment from the aforementioned Wagner, alongside the likes of NFL superstar Tom Brady on the board of directors.

However, it has proven to be nothing short of a disaster in the grand scheme of proceedings, albeit there are numerous factors that have let the Blues' season transpire to such a point.

With just one game to go, former Sky Sports pundit, Richard Keys, has stated his honest but brutal prediction regarding Birmingham's survival chances on his personal blog.

"As we prepare to watch the last day of the Championship season I can’t help but think Birmingham deserve to go down," Keys began.

"What a mess they made of their season. Think back - they were sixth when they fired John Eustace.

"I feel sorry for their fans, who were promised too much and were delivered nothing. It’s another lesson in being careful what you wish for," he concluded.

Although Gary Rowett's side currently find themselves three matches unbeaten, there is a sense that the last two games - 0-0 and 1-1 draws away to Rotherham United and Huddersfield Town - the only two sides below them in the table were missed opportunities to claim maximum points, especially as they coincided with Sheffield Wednesday recording back-to-back victories against Blackburn Rovers and West Bromwich Albion to eventually climb out of the relegation zone.

Therefore, there's no surprise that the interim boss has fired a serious warning at his players for failing to turn at least one of those games into a precious three points.

"At this stage of the season, they see other teams winning games of football and there’s an expectation when you’re playing the two teams around us that you go and win one of the games," Rowett told Birmingham Live.

"We deserve to be where we are and that’s really simple at this stage of the season. Our away form has been incredibly poor all season. You have to show a much better mentality."

Birmingham City must prepare for another last-day escape

Although the final day of the season has provided some memorable encounters for the long-suffering Bluenoses, this is a situation they have now become more than accustomed to.

It has been ten years since Paul Caddis' dramatic injury-time equaliser away to Bolton Wanderers in May 2014, a result which kept the club in the second tier on goal difference ahead of Doncaster Rovers, as well as dramatic final day escapes that ended in victory against Bristol City and Fulham in 2017 and 2018 respectively.

One silver lining for Birmingham could be that their final day encounter is in B9, where they've accumulated 33 of their 47 points across the season, but they must use what will be a raucous atmosphere to their advantage once again, which was displayed in recent successes over Preston North End and Coventry City.