Birmingham City boss Chris Davies responds to owners' demand ahead of Championship opener

Chris Davies’ idea of fun was to spend some of his brief summer downtime going through the past 100 teams to win promotion from the third tier. That he noticed only five had achieved a consecutive elevation to the promised land made it clear that Birmingham City face a daunting task irrespective of their momentum.

Excitement is sky high at St Andrew’s ahead of tonight’s return to the Championship and this is a club justifiably feeling good about itself after romping to the League One title with a record 111 points.

Backed by an ownership group that are meeting big promises with action, Davies’ squad has improved and should get stronger again before the transfer deadline on September 1. It comes as they look to make a splash in what might be the most unpredictable Championship of all time.

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But the manager who, for now, has a win percentage better than Pep Guardiola knows it is a tall order irrespective of the grand ambitions and investment.

Chairman Tom Wagner and his Knighthead Capital made it clear that it is a case of “when, not if” Birmingham reach the Premier League for the first time since 2010-11. Davies, every bit the modern manager, says he can handle the pressure by “focusing on process rather the outcome” but he is simultaneously happy to embrace the expectation.

“I don’t disagree with Tom at all that under Knighthead’s ownership this club will arrive in the Premier League, absolutely,” he says. “This ambition is there to inspire us, to give us something to really aim for.

“But we know how hard and how unforgiving the Championship can be. We know it’s a demanding, relentless league.”

Facing Ipswich, the favourites for promotion and the most recent side to go from League One to the Premier League, first up will provide an instant guide.

“It’s a measure for us,” Davies adds. “Those first weeks are really important to identify the key things we need to be successful. We’ll learn a lot in the first few weeks.

“There is no bigger test opposition wise for us in the first game but we are at home. We didn't lose at home in the league last season.”

While they dominated possession throughout their record-breaking campaign – an average of 67.15 per cent that only Manchester City have bettered across the top four tiers in the past dozen years – Davies knows that they will face fewer teams willing to sit back this season.

That has meant diversifying the squad. Demarai Gray’s return home is the most striking addition but most important of all is Davies has been given depth so he can select different teams for different rivals. And against Kieran McKenna’s side they will meet another as eager to dominate possession and territory.

“That was part of the recruitment strategy. You need different solutions,” he adds. “Last season we were quite fluid towards the end but if you’re having less possession you then have to think about counterattacking, pace, speed. We’ve added that.

"The level of dominance we had will naturally decrease. But we’ve been working on how we handle that.”

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