Blues News: 6 more points

Birmingham City picked up another 6 points this past week. Last Saturday they hammered 4 goals past the hapless cellar-dwelling Shrewsbury Town before allowing a late consolation goal to finish 4-1. The Blues scorers were Ben Davies, Ethan Laird and Alfie May, whose brace ended a 16-game-long goalscoring drought.

Tuesday night was a bit tighter. At Bristol Rovers City took an early lead with Keshi Anderson scoring in the third minute. That was erased 16 minutes later and the scoreline stayed that way until a handball in the box gave Jay Stansfield the opportunity to get the go-ahead goal in the 85th minute. He did not disappoint and the Blues finished the game 2-1.

At the same time Wrexham beat Exeter City 2-0 and then drew 2-2 with Cambridge United. Wycombe for their part beat Lincoln City 1-0 and then drew with the reeling Shrewsbury 0-0. With that both chasing teams fell another 2 points behind the Blues. Here’s how the top ten in League One look right now:

Remember, 4th through 6th enter the promotion playoffs. The top five spots look pretty much locked up at this point although the final order could very well change before the full 46 games are played. The final playoff spot is however still up for grabs with 5 teams battling for it. Barnsley in 11th is 5 points adrift of Orient with one additional game played and are probably out of the running.

The Blues sit on an 11-point lead. They can finish no lower than 5th and now need just 8 points from 8 games to clinch the title. Realistically they need only 7 given the massive goal difference advantage they are carrying. They can hit either target by Tuesday this week with two wins and if both Wrexham and Wycombe fail to win tomorrow. Beyond that, to set a new EFL points record they need 18 points, 2.25 per game.

Tomorrow Birmingham City plays Barnsley (9:00am, no US TV), followed by Peterborough United on Tuesday (1:45pm, no US TV). Barnsley is the highest-placed team they have to play in the final 8 games. Peterborough is 14th, and they will have to play them twice in 6 days as they will be the opponents in the EFL Trophy final next Sunday. Wrexham plays Burton Albion tomorrow (6:30am, Paramount+) and Wycombe plays at Reading (6:30am, no US TV). Neither has a midweek game.