Following the surprise sacking of Gary Rowett, new Birmingham City manager Gianfranco Zola faces a tough old job at St Andrews. 

With the fans of the club on the back foot and in shock at the departure of Rowett, the little Italian has work to do to convince the faithful that he is the right man to lead the club forward.

Over the last few seasons, the Blues have managed to sustain a push for the top six right up until the final few months of the season, where they have then drifted away. This should not take away from the fact that Rowett did an excellent job in getting them that close though.

Zola though now is the man at the helm, and the man tasked with taking the Blues that step further.

In this article, we take a look at TWO things Zola needs to address for Birmingham City in January...

Lack of goals

Despite sitting in 9th place, the Blues have only managed to hit the net 27 times this season. This is by no means the worst of the top ten, but it does represent a lack of quality in front of goal.

Zola has completed the signing of striker Lukas Jutkiewicz on a permanent deal already, and this should go some way to helping this target.

However, more firepower will be needed if they are to gatecrash the top six party, and Zola will no doubt have his eyes on a few strikers heading into the transfer window.

Instill some self belief

Last season, the Blues came agonisingly close to securing a play off berth, only to fall short towards the end of the campaign.

However, if Zola can do one positive thing at St Andrews in January, it could be to make his players believe that this time they can go all the way and clinch sixth spot.

Only 5 points separate them from fourth position at the moment, and if Zola can start racking the wins up and getting his team to believe in themselves, then they might well just sneak in to the promotion picture come May.