A dramatic victory at St Andrew’s on Saturday sent Birmingham City closer into the Championship relegation zone.

In the 96th minute, Joe Aribo stabbed home from within the six-yard box to guarantee Southampton defeated the 10-man Blues 4-3.Before then, Juninho Bacuna had tied the score for Blues in response to Dion Sanderson’s contentious red card.

The Blues’ first-half goals came from Koji Miyoshi and Jay Stansfield, while the Saints’ goals came from Adam Armstrong, David Brooks, and former St Andrew’s favourite Che Adams. The Blues have now lost two games in a row without Tony Mowbray.

Shortly after Blues slid to 20th in the table, above the relegation zone only on goal differential, interim manager Mark Venus must spur a turnaround. These are the things we wanted to discuss after Southampton lost.

A dilemma at centre back

Who will start at centre back for Hull? Krystian Bielik is hurt, Sanderson is suspended, and Marc Roberts is questionable. Before Kevin Long moved to Toronto, Emanuel Aiwu was the backup centre defender; as a result, the Austrian is expected to start the next three Championship games.

The FA may uphold Sanderson’s red card even though the Blues have the option to appeal it. Sanderson’s foot was high, and they usually side with the refs, thus I don’t think it was a red card.

Cody Drameh has been mentioned by Mowbray as a possible center-back, and he may have to start there against Hull. If Roberts misses out and Sanderson is suspended, the Blues simply don’t have any other options.

This is now a scrap about relegation.

The title match, you say? Blues fell to a team vying for promotion for the second straight week, and when they looked at other scores, they discovered that many of the teams in their vicinity had won. These bizarre events, in which every opponent of the Blues wins, occur far too frequently.

Sheffield Wednesday, QPR, Stoke, and Millwall all prevailed. Nine out of the last 17 games and four of the previous five have been won by the Owls. That statistic is astounding and worrisome for teams like the Blues, considering that they have only triumphed once in their first eighteen games.

Thanks to Stoke’s victory over Middlesbrough and Huddersfield’s draw with Leeds, Blues are currently goal differential away from the relegation zone. The Blues are now in the middle of a relegation struggle that they cannot escape.

Dembele disregarded

You need your best players to step up when circumstances like these arise. While Siriki Dembele is undoubtedly one of them, the Ivorian left-winger is currently viewed with suspicion.

We all seen him fail to follow Axel Tuanzebe’s run at a critical juncture in the team’s loss to Ipswich Town last Saturday. Against Southampton, he remained on the bench the entire time. Venus reached for players he trusted when he needed to shift his pack after Sanderson’s dismissal.

Venus stated, “We have to see who the men are in the squad,” following the game as the Blues were just one spot above the bottom three. Dembele needs to demonstrate that he has what it takes to avoid relegation and gain the coaching staff’s faith.

A very important week is coming up.

Hull most definitely does not fit the “free hit” criterion, however Ipswich and Southampton do. There must be a point return from the doubleheader against Hull and Millwall the following week.

Venus stated, “Every game is big in my opinion.” “Despite the fact that the outcome is favourable, the games are still significant because of our league standing. In addition to focusing on our shortcomings, we should be encouraged by our three goals at home and one against one of the league’s top clubs when playing with ten men. There’s something to work with there.

The match at Millwall on Saturday is really important. Under Neil Harris, they have won two straight games to pull one point ahead of the Blues. At this point, there’s not much more space for error.

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