'Rubbish' - Birmingham City warned by former Aston Villa and Man United hero

Birmingham City should ‘walk’ before they ‘run’ according to a former Aston Villa and Manchester United striker.

Last week, the Blues unveiled plans to build a 'world class' stadium after completing the purchase of a 48-acre site. The proposed new stadium would be built in the Bordseley Green area and the site would have training facilities, a new academy, community pitches and commercial pace to support local business. As part of the plans, more than 3,000 local jobs are expected to be created by the proposed plans from Knighthead, who took ownership of the club last summer.

The new stadium would be a couple of years away and in the mean time, Birmingham are battling relegation. A 3-0 win against Coventry City at the weekend relieved some of the pressure as they moved out of the drop zone. They are a point above Huddersfield Town and Sheffield Wednesday with two games remaining and former England striker Dion Dublin believes the club should focus on the here and now.

Dion Dublin, speaking to BoyleSports who offer the latest EFL betting, said: “Birmingham fans will love the chat around a new stadium,”

“They'll love the new stadium, but if the here and now is rubbish it might never get to that.

“If what happens off the pitch is all positive and it's working, it's great, but when it’s not going well on the pitch it doesn't matter.

“It's got to be right when you go over the white line, so I'd walk before I could run if I was at Birmingham, if I was a fan I’d want them to take it step by step and go from there.”

Birmingham have a favourable fixture against already relegated Rotherham United at the weekend. Next week they face Huddersfield at the John Smith's Stadium in a six-pointer before rounding off their campaign against Norwich City who are currently inside the Championship play-off places.

This season, a total of six people have held the role as either head coach or manager. John Eustace, Wayne Rooney and Tony Mowbray have been the permanent managers whilst Steve Spooner, Mark Venus and now Gary Rowett have taken interim charge. Dublin believes that should Birmingham survive that supporters will want to see some stability over the next couple of seasons.

He added: “Birmingham City need to get out of the rut they are in because you can tell the fans are a little bit annoyed even though they pick up wins now and then.

“I think the fans just want a bit of stability. Giving a manager for two or three years and let him try and create something, but the fans will always be there.

“They'll always fill their stadium because they are so loyal, my best pal is a Blue and he is a bit frustrated at the moment. But under the right system they can turn it around.”