Birmingham City have had an inconsistent start to life under Aitor Karanka, with the side currently 17th in the Championship.

There was an excitement around St. Andrew's when the Spaniard was appointed, as he has won promotion at this level in the past and he has built some good teams over the years.

Understandably, things haven't clicked straight away with Blues but fans will see some signs of encouragement moving forward.

Here we look at THREE clear trends we've seen since the season started...

Failing to beat the lower teams

The main frustration for Karanka will be Blues' inability to beat the sides below them.

Home defeats to Sheffield Wednesday and Wycombe just aren't good enough and if they had got four points from those games the table would look a whole lot healthier.

As well as that, draws to Rotherham and QPR mean Birmingham have not beaten any of the sides below them that they've come up against.

Lack of creativity

Following on from that, a reason for those poor performances is that Blues just don't score enough goals and they struggle against a low block.

A return of nine from 11 games is very poor and many of those have been from set-pieces.

There has been a gradual improvement as the season has progressed but overall Blues are failing to create clear chances. Whether it's the system or the personnel, Karanka needs to do get more out of this team as an attacking unit.

Solid base

It's not all bad news for Birmingham though, as they have been relatively solid this season.

Karanka is known as a very good defensive coach and he has quickly made his mark at St. Andrew's. They are setup very well and hard to score against.

It's a good foundation to build on for the boss.