Birmingham City head coach Pep Clotet has suggested that West Bromwich Albion are the best team in the Championship ahead of tomorrow's clash with Slaven Bilic's side.

The Blues, who are currently 15th in the second-tier standings, will be aiming to become the second team to the beat the Baggies in a league fixture this season when the two sides meet at St Andrew's.

West Brom's only blemish this season saw them lose to promotion rivals Leeds United in October as a Kyle Bartley own-goal decided the fixture at Elland Road.

Since this clash, the Baggies have won eight of their last 11 fixtures in the second-tier which has allowed him to move up to second in the Championship standings.

Meanwhile, Birmingham have experienced a mixed run of form in recent weeks under the guidance of Clotet.

Following their victory over Luton Town at the end of October, the Blues were only able to amass three points from their next five fixtures before stopping the rot against Reading last weekend.

However, having lost 2-0 to Queens Park Rangers on Wednesday, Birmingham will be determined to deliver a response to this particular performance tomorrow.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference (as cited by the Birmingham Mail) about whether West Brom are the best team in the Championship, Clotet said: "Yes.

"I think the gap between Leeds and West Brom and the rest is because of something.

"West Brom has had really good recruitment, has had an organisation that they thought about defending well first, being solid in defence at the beginning of the league and then slowly building up the offensive which has made them very, very complete.

"It's a team that I don't think has a ceiling yet, so there's more to come.

"It looks like a team that is prepared to do the next step in the Premier League."

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The Verdict

When you consider that West Brom's squad is currently brimming with talent, Birmingham will have to be on top-form to secure a positive result at St Andrew's tomorrow.

Given just how poor the Blues were against QPR, it will be a major surprise if Clotet doesn't make a number of alterations to his starting eleven for the clash with the Baggies.

Providing that the Spaniard is able to get his team selection spot-on, there is no reason why Birmingham cannot take the game to West Brom who were relatively underwhelming against Wigan Athletic on Wednesday.