Blues News: back to action

Birmingham City were off last week for the international break and were able to sit back and watch their rivals play on. Wrexham took a 1-0 win over playoff hopefuls Stockport County (who were promoted along with them last season). With Wycombe also resting, Wrexham moved up into second place with a 3-point lead but on one additional game. They also cut the Blues’ points lead to 9, but have played 2 additional games. City is thus still comfortably ahead. The magic number stands at 16 points to clinch the division title. Wrexham is currently favored to take the second automatic promotion spot on the basis of a much lighter remaining schedule than Wycombe.

Neither team will have it as easy as the Blues though, who are playing mostly the bottom teams in League One. That starts Saturday with a home fixture against Shrewsbury Town (10:00am, no US TV), who are dead last. Shrewsbury also got a bit of a shock on Tuesday as their head coach Gareth Ainsworth left to take over at Gillingham, who are 19th in League Two. Frankly, not much of a loss. Shrewsbury today appointed Michael Appleton to close out the season. That’s not exactly much of an improvement; he has been out of work for over a year since being sacked by Charlton Athletic in January 2024. Obviously, not knowing the style of your opposing coach is a problem, but it’s an even bigger problem for the opponent who will have just one day under their new gaffer before what will be their hardest game of the season (followed quickly by another hard game).

That being said, Shrewsbury did shock the Blues by winning 3-2 back in November but also got hammered 4-0 in the EFL Trophy in October in a game that also resulted in fines for both clubs after a mass confrontation (the Blues were also fined Thursday this week for another melee during the game with Bolton Wanderers earlier this month).

The Blues have a second game this week on Tuesday, playing away at Bristol Rovers (2:00pm, Paramount+). The Rovers are 20th in the league.

As for Wrexham, they play at Exeter City Saturday (10:00am, Paramount+) and at Cambridge United Tuesday (1:45pm, Paramount+), so will remain 2 games ahead of the Blues. Wycombe hosts Lincoln City Saturday (10:00am, no US TV) and Shrewsbury Tuesday (1:45pm, no US TV). Likewise, still a game ahead.