West Midlands rivals Birmingham City and Wolverhampton Wanderers began the season as unknown quantities to many but the contrast in how things have played out for both club's couldn't be more different.

Blues saw a huge turnover of players in the summer, which was conducted by Harry Redknapp. However, the ex-Spurs boss has since been sacked, with many new signings not looking up to it.

Former assistant Steve Cotterill is now in charge and his side look as though they will be embroiled in another relegation battle as they sit in the relegation zone during this international break.

Meanwhile, for Wolves everything is looking great. Like their rivals, big changes came over the summer but Nuno Espirito Santo arrived with a clear plan in mind and has hit the ground running.

They lead the way as we are a third of the way into the season and are odds-on with all bookmakers to win the Championship title.

The two sides meet in early December and it promises to be an exciting, tense affair.

However, given the surprisingly big difference between the two club's so far this season, we will look at three things Birmingham could learn from their high-flying rivals in order to improve.

Stick to a formation

You don't want to excuse the Birmingham players, who have looked like they don't care at times, but it can't help changing the way you play all the time.

They've occasionally switched from their usual back four to a three and Cotterill now needs to settle on something.

Even further up the pitch, in the last two games they've gone from having Che Adams as a lone striker, to playing Sam Gallagher and Lukas Jutkiewicz.

It will completely change the approach of the team. Adams will be looking for through balls and passes in behind, whereas the other pair are better with their back to goal in a more direct approach.

There's no consistency in the team shape or importantly the style.

For Wolves, everyone knows their roles in the 3-4-3 formation perfectly and you can tell on the pitch.

Build around your best players

Following on from that, 3-4-3 is the formation that Cotterill should stick with as it could get the best out of Blues' key players.

Adams, Jota and even Jeremie Boga are outstanding attacking talents in this league, yet Blues are the lowest scorers in the Championship.

Cotterill needs to be imaginative and find a formation that allows those three, or at least two of them, to excel.

It works superbly at Molineux with Diogo Jota and Ivan Cavaleiro regularly causing trouble and the 3-4-3 could bring the best out of Birmingham's talented attacking options.

Have a plan

Wolves were ruthless and impressive over the summer. Santo came in and the new signings followed quickly. From day one of pre-season, the Black Country outfit were relentlessly drilled on their new formation and style.

For Birmingham, it seemed they were making it up as they went along. Redknapp spent most of August criticising his current players and they left it far too late to bring in many of their targets.

From the owners down, Blues need to find a plan and structure that they can all follow. The mistakes of the summer can't be repeated and looking at how Wolves went about things is a good place to start.

What do you think Birmingham and Wolves fans? Let us know in the comments below.