Sky pundit backs Birmingham City to follow Ipswich Town trend | OneFootball

Birmingham City suffered relegation to League One last season

Clinton Morrison believes that Birmingham City have what it takes to gain back-to-back promotions just like Ipswich Town.

The Tractor Boys went from League One to the Premier League in the space of just two years under Kieran McKenna.

The Suffolk outfit came second in League One and in the Championship in back-to-back campaigns, returning to the top flight for the first time in over 20 years.

But Birmingham have gone in the opposite direction,suffering relegation to the third tier, competing at that level for the first time since 1995.

Chris Davies will be hoping to guide the Blues back to the Championship at the first attempt this year, with the club’s long-term ambitions being promotion to the Premier League.

Clinton Morrison makes Birmingham Premier League promotion claim

Morrison has suggested that Birmingham have what it takes to follow in Ipswich’s footsteps over the next couple of seasons.

While he has admitted that Davies hasn’t quite proven himself to be at McKenna’s level just yet, he believes the investment coming in from the owners highlights their ambition to rise back to the top level sooner rather than later.

"Birmingham can secure back-to-back promotions. One million percent yes," said Morrison, via Birmingham Live.

"They can do back-to-back because they’ve got a good manager. Ipswich had an unbelievable manager in Kieran McKenna, and I don’t think we can put Chris Davies in that class yet.

“Davies has worked with some great managers in Brendan Rodgers and Ange Postecoglou, there’s no doubting his potential and he will certainly have the financial backing of the owners.

"The owners will be the ones that can have a major influence on whether the club can get back-to-back promotions.

“We’ve seen their ambition in League One, and there’s nothing to suggest that they wouldn’t splash the cash if the club were promoted next season."

The summer signing of Jay Stansfield from Fulham for £15 million, according to The Athletic, was particularly eye-catching for the Blues.

Birmingham City League One table position

Birmingham currently sit fourth in the League One table after four games played.

Davies’ side have earned three wins and one draw, remaining undefeated in the early stages of the season.

The Blues will return to action this weekend after missing last week’s round of fixtures due to the international break, which has led to them having a game in hand over league leaders Wrexham.

Next up for Birmingham is a clash against the Red Dragons at St. Andrew’s on 16 September in an 8pm kick-off.

Too soon to be thinking about Premier League return for Birmingham

Ipswich’s achievement stood out simply because of just how difficult it is to earn back-to-back promotions to the top flight.

It hadn’t been done in over a decade prior to Ipswich’s rise under McKenna, with very few expecting them to pull it off even up to the final couple of months of last season.

It has been a positive start to the season under Davies, but it is simply too soon to be thinking about top flight football at St. Andrew’s just yet.

Getting out of League One will be tricky enough, even with all of their resources, given how stiff the competition will be this year for a top two spot.