Birmingham have had a good season under Gary Rowett as they look to recover from Lee Clarke's reign of last season.

Last season was marred by poor management by Clarke as Birmingham sat in the relegation zone after an embarrassing 8-0 defeat to Bournemouth, with their defence proving a major problem.

After Clarke was sacked, Gary Rowett was brought in from Birmingham and he has done an excellent job and with the addition of Michael Morrison, has turned the Birmingham defence into a solid backline.

Birmingham have spent very little this season but they are still challenging for the play-offs, sitting just six points outside with a game in hand on their rivals.

Even if they don't make it, it still marks a terrific improvement from last season with very little money spent.

All of the players they've added are having great seasons with Maikel Kieftenbeld proving a great signing as well as Jacques Maghoma and the loan signing of Jon Toral.

Morrison and Robinson have been solid at the back as well as Caddis, but they have been let down on the goals front ultimately this season.

David Cotterill has been woefully out of form and with the loss of Demarai Gray in the summer they have lost some creativity.

Gleeson and Kieftenbeld along with Maghoma have been excellent though and Jon Toral has been their star player with plenty of goals and assists - but the one thing Birmingham need in place for next season is another striker.

Clayton Donaldson started the season well for Birmingham but recently his finishing has been poor and he's in the middle of a goal drought.

Here are the THREE best moments of Birmingham's season so far.....

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PRESS THE IMAGE BELOW TO SEE THE 3 BEST MOMENTS!

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The transfer windows

Rowett like Hughton at Brighton has operated superbly at Birmingham clearing out last season's deadwood and replacing them with quality and spending little money.

The sale of Demarai Gray freed up some funds but Rowett has hit the nail on the head with every signing.

Maghoma, Kieftenbeld and Michael Morrison have all been excellent signings for peanuts and there endeavour has led Birmingham up the table.

Good use of the loan market too like the signing of Jon Toral who has been one of the most creative players this season.

Rowett will possibly regret not signing more backup for the misfiring Donaldson but the recent loan signing of Northern Ireland striker Kyle Lafferty gives them more options up front, which should help bolster there play-off push.

January form

Birmingham were showing signs of becoming genuine promotion challengers, but did show signs of inconsistency, however in January they clicked into top gear with some great performances and results.

After beating Brentford at home they proceeded to demolish fellow promotion candidates Ipswich and Derby 3-0 to prove they were genuine challengers.

Also it was testament to the great work of Rowett as Kieftenbeld shone in both games and they kept two clean sheets against good attacks, which was unthinkable last season.

Toral and Buckley shone against Ipswich showing how Rowett also made good use of the loan markets, proof of how they could compete with the best makes them genuine top 6 contenders.

Scintillating away displays

Birmingham were very good on the road particularly at the start of the season.

Their blistering counter attacking football tore teams apart, best showcased in their impressive 5-2 win at Fulham in which Toral and Donaldson ran the show.

They also gained comfortable wins at Leeds and Brentford and impressive points away at Middlesbrough and Burnley whilst thumping Derby 3-0 away from home.

They're not reliant on home form with Rowett changing the tactics from the old regime.

Any other highlights Birmingham fans? Your win over Hull perhaps? Leave thoughts and opinions below!