Having steadied the ship over the past two years at the helm at Birmingham City, Gary Rowett is now preparing to launch a serious promotion challenge with his Blues side.

Birmingham City are flying in this season's Championship and two consecutive victories have lifted the West Midlands outfit to 4th in the table.

They are seven points behind Brighton in the automatic spots but there is a real sense of optimism and anticipation concerning Birmingham's hopes this season.

Rowett sets his team out with a solid defensive base as the foundation and looks to build from there.

Birmingham have some financial backing in the upcoming January transfer window and Gary Rowett has already stated his desire to bring in quality rather than quantity to help bolster his squad and prepare for a promotion charge.

Here are three "marquee" signings that Rowett should look to bring to St Andrew's this January.

Jordan Rhodes

Birmingham City need a goalscorer to spearhead their promotion challenge as they have only scored 24 goals in 18 games.

Jordan Rhodes is a proven goalscorer at Championship level and looks to be available for transfer because he is out of favour at Middlesbrough.

Rhodes is an improvement on Clayton Donaldson and Lukas Jutkiewicz and would score the goals to ensure Birmingham are up there competing in May.

Tyrone Mings

Birmingham loaned in Bournemouth left back Rhoys Wiggins in the summer but he suffered a season-ending injury in the Second City derby.

They could look to return to Bournemouth for their next defensive signing and Tyrone Mings is a young man who has impressed in the Championship before.

The 23-year-old has been limited to just one cup match this season after a serious injury last term and a loan move to the Championship could be the best option for his career.

Ravel Morrison

Ravel Morrison is likely to polarise opinion but the controversial midfielder would be an ideal addition for his former side Birmingham.

The troublesome attacking midfielder joined the Blues on loan from West Ham a few years ago and thoroughly impressed before turning in some exceptional Premier League performances for the Hammers.

Unfortunately off-the-field issues led to him being sent to Lazio, where he has fallen out of favour, and a move back to England could be on the cards for the incredibly naturally talented midfielder.