Birmingham City were dealt a frustrating injury blow, with news emerging that midfielder, Maikel Kieftenbeld is set to be ruled out for six to nine months with a knee injury. 

The 28-year-old picked up the nasty-looking injury in a tackle with Leeds' Kalvin Phillips in Birmingham's 1-0 win over the promotion-chasing Whites.

It was confirmed that he damaged the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee, which is set to see him sidelined for the foreseeable future.

This will be hugely frustrating for Birmingham supporters, who had little to cheer for in recent weeks, and would have hoped that their fortunes were turning round after the win over Leeds.

Kieftenbeld has been a crucial member of Garry Monk's side this season and will leave a notable void in the centre of the Birmingham midfield.

The Blues are only five points clear of the relegation zone and fans will be fearing the worst, even after their win over Leeds at the weekend.

Kieftenbeld offers the ideal cover to the Birmingham defence and it seems difficult to see a replacement being able to play the same role as effectively as he did for the majority of this season.

Birmingham have got some tough fixtures to come before the season reaches a conclusion, and fans have every right to be fearing that they could be sucked into the relegation dogfight, which is seemingly taking a fresh turn every week at the moment.

You do feel that their points deduction could cost them this season, especially with the teams below them picking up valuable points in recent weeks.

Birmingham won't be used to scrapping for points at the bottom of the table and they'll be nervously looking over their shoulders, especially with Kieftenbeld now ruled out of action for the remainder of this year's campaign.