Birmingham City fans who were hoping to have St. Andrew's back to full capacity for next week's visit of Preston North End have been disappointed once again following the club's latest update.

The Blues have been working with a reduced capacity due to urgent work to the Kop and Tilton stands, which needed to be fully closed for the first two games limiting the crowds to just over 10,000 fans.

That was upped to around the 15,000 mark with the opening of the upper tier of the Tilton for home clashes against Derby County and Fulham, and there was hope that work on the Upper Kop - which spans the whole length of the pitch - would free up thousands more seats.

There's been disappointing news from the club hierarchy though who have confirmed that work still needs to be done to make the Upper Kop safe to reside in, so it will remain closed for the visit of Preston North End next Saturday.

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All season ticket holders are guaranteed a seat elsewhere in the stadium but it has provided great frustration for Kop regulars and general fans who want to attend to see Birmingham's positive start to the season, despite a 4-1 loss to Fulham in midweek.

The Verdict

This isn't the update that Birmingham fans wanted to see.

Kop season ticket holders are frustrated that they're not allowed to go back to their regular seats and there's no doubt frustrations elsewhere that the club cannot pack St. Andrew's to the rafters to capitalise on their good start to the campaign.

But this could have all been solved if work had been completed in time - it was back in December 2020 when it was announced the stands were being closed to undergo remedial work so there was plenty of time to get the job done.

Birmingham must now wait a while longer to get close to a sell-out St. Andrew's and the mood will only grow worse and more volatile if the delays continue.