"The bare minimum" - Confident Birmingham City promotion warning sent to Southampton, Ipswich Town & Leicester City | OneFootball

FLW Birmingham Fan Pundit Jason weighs in on why the Blues can challenge for promotion.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

At the end of a record-breaking League One campaign, Birmingham City were already being tipped as contenders for the following Championship season.

And based on their early transfer business, confidence within the Blues fanbase will be rising even higher after some statement signings.

In the past week, loan deals have been struck for Brighton goalkeeper James Beadle and Wolves midfielder Tommy Doyle, whilst free transfer deals have been signed for Bright Osayi-Samuel and the returning winger Demarai Gray.

Added to that, Japanese duo Kyogo Furuhashi and Kanya Fujimoto are reportedly set to sign for the Midlands outfit, giving head coach Chris Davies somewhat of an embarrassment of riches in his squad.

Birmingham City tipped to challenge at top of Championship - Southampton, Ipswich Town & Leicester City have been warned

FLW’s Birmingham City fan pundit Jason Moore believes that Chris Davies' squad is now one of the strongest in the division, and when asked as to whether he thinks other top Championship clubs should be concerned about their business, a strong message was sent to the relegated trio especially.

“I think so, to be fair, at the bare minimum it could be top six,” Jason told FLW when asked if Birmingham should be counted as one of the automatic promotion favourites at this current moment in time.

“But I don’t see why we cannot challenge for automatic promotion given the players we have got.

“We had a Championship-calibre squad before we had even signed a player.

“Leicester could be vulnerable with a points deduction. Ipswich have got the Kieran McKenna factor, but I don’t think their squad is that good.

“I think Southampton will be strong, but we could be a real force.

“People need to take into consideration that we have got the feel-good factor, the form from last season, and all of the signings on top of that as well.

“I said to someone the other day that if we don’t at least finish in the top four, then you are potentially looking at a bad season.

“Take that with a pinch of salt, because I would be more than happy with top six, but I definitely think we can challenge at the top. Why not?”

Birmingham City transfer business shows that they're in the Championship for a promotion push

Birmingham may have had a slow start to the transfer window, but business has certainly picked up for them now.

Many expected them to go straight for the big guns early on in the market, but they've bided their time, and deals are starting to fall into place.

If Kyogo and Fujimoto land at St. Andrew's in the near future, then you get the feeling that Davies' squad is almost complete - there may be some outgoings, but the strength in depth will be ridiculous.

The opening night against Ipswich will be a huge early test, and the already sold-out home crowd is a reflection of the belief sweeping through the fanbase - a second successive promotion will be in their sights.