Birmingham City's 1-0 defeat of Bolton Wanderers last night means Burton Albion now sit eight points adrift of Championship safety.

Lukas Jutkiewicz scored the only goal at the Macron Stadium as the Blues' good form under Garry Monk continues.

Monk was installed at Birmingham exactly a month ago today, and after losing their first two games they have now won three consecutive matches.

Birmingham remain in 21st place, though, but they sit level on 39 points with Reading and Bolton.

Garry Monk
Garry Monk

Bottom side Burton now have to make up an eight-point gap with 18 of them left to play for, and it's Birmingham up next in a relegation showdown on Saturday (3pm).

And with a vastly inferior goal difference on their rivals (-42), it's effectively a nine point gap given Sunderland's is the second-worst in the league (-29).

Should Burton fall to defeat at St Andrew's and follow that up with a loss to Hull City at the Pirelli Stadium on Tuesday night, they could be relegated should Birmingham, Bolton and Reading - who lost 3-0 to Aston Villa last night - win their next two matches.

A similar scenario could also spell the end for Sunderland, who sit level on 31 points with the Brewers - three points behind Barnsley who occupy the final relegation spot.

Hull secured a precious point with an unexpected 2-2 draw with Wolves at Molineux to move themselves well clear of the relegation zone, with Nigel Akdins' side now on 41 points.

Jota of Birmingham City high five his team mates after scoring during the Sky Bet Championship match between Birmingham City and Ipswich Town
Jota of Birmingham City high five his team mates after scoring during the Sky Bet Championship match between Birmingham City and Ipswich Town

Monk's turnaround has halted a slide that, overseen by ex-Brewer Steve Cotterill, saw Birmingham look destined for relegation after seven defeats on the bounce.

But since the former Leeds United manager joined the Blues, the fabled 'new-manager bounce' has well and truly taken hold.

And Monk explained how he has managed to allay fears of relegation at a club that has struggled for the past 18 months at the foot of the table, employing five different managers at that time.

"What you need in that adversity is character. When I came to the club, speaking to the fans and people who know the club very, very well - what they demand is a team who gives everything," Monk told the Birmingham Mail after the vital win in Lancashire last night .

"I think over the last 15 months or so, for whatever reasons they feel they haven’t been getting that.

"That was one thing we spoke about on the very first day, this is what the club and the fans demand - especially with 5,000 behind us we had to show that.

"And we have, we have been showing it from day one. That was called upon tonight.

"When you see it like that, in adversity, I am very proud of the players.

Garry Monk

"The last thing I said to the players before we walked out is 'There's 5,000 of our fans here, let's make sure that we walk off the pitch where they can be proud of you'.

"The whole team to a man, we were excellent, even the guys that didn't come on, you can tell they are very much together.

"At the end that's the spirit that every club needs - but this club needs it more than ever. We are showing that at this moment.

"We must maintain that, it’s the key to it."