Birmingham City justify hype as record threatened - but they must still prove one thing
Birmingham City's odds on eclipsing Wolverhampton Wanderers' League One points record, posted 10 years ago, have been slashed after their excellent start to the new season.
New look Blues, under new manager Chris Davies, drew on the opening day of the season at home to Reading, but have since proceeded to win five straight league games in a row and are aiming to complete a sixth on the bounce for the first time in almost 40 years when Peterborough visit this weekend.
They sit second behind fellow pace-setters Wrexham, with a game in hand and having already beaten the Dragons, as well as relegated counterparts and similarly fancied Rotherham United.
The prospect of Blues breaking a new League One record having spent millions re-shaping their squad and attracting an entirely new front-line - as well as securing the permanent return of Jay Stansfield - coupled with their start to the season has led to leading bookmaker bet365 shortening their odds quite comprehensively that they will surpass the 103 points achieved by Wolves.
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They've shortened from 5/1 to post a new record into 5/2, but the idea of going unbeaten over 46 games hasn't yet been considered - Wolves, after all, lost five matches in their own record-breaking campaign.
Steve Freeth, spokesperson for bet365, said: “Six games is a very small sample size, but Chris Davies’ side are already 1/2 to win the title and 1/7 to be promoted. All the pre-season hype seems to be justified at this stage despite the stuttering start against Reading.
“They overcame Wrexham with the minimum amount of fuss and, after a comprehensive victory at Rotherham last weekend, they now have two home games to assert their early authority in this division. However, we do think it’s a little too early to talk about going unbeaten – current record holders Wolves lost five times during the 2013/14 campaign – but it’s still an impressive start from Blues after the disappointment of last season.”