Birmingham City will be hopeful of avoiding the drop under Lee Bowyer this season after what has been a frustrating campaign.

Expectations were positive when Aitor Karanka - a promotion winner from this level - took charge of the club in the summer.

Karanka was seen as a steady pair of hands at first, but despite bringing the likes of George Friend, Adam Clayton and Mikel San Jose into the club, they have struggled to impress.

Blues sit in a precarious position in the Championship table, and they will be hopeful of turning the tide under Lee Bowyer.

As alluded to before, Blues have a number of older, more experienced players at the club, and those type of characters could be beneficial in helping to turn a corner under Bowyer.

Who are the top 10 oldest players ever to have featured for Birmingham City? Take a look at our list and see if you can guess who the oldest is...

Kicking off at number 10 in our list is Tomasz Kuszczak, who was a popular figure amongst fans during his time at Birmingham City.

The Polish shot-stopper joined Wolves on a permanent deal from Birmingham City in 2015, before spending four years at St. Andrew's.

The Pole left the club in 2019 at the end of his contract, and made his last appearance in 2017 against Middlesbrough.

At that time, he was 35 years, 8 months and 2 days old, and he made over 90 league appearances for the club during his time in the West Midlands.

Another goalkeeper appears on our list at number nine.

Gil Merrick - a 23-time England international - came through the ranks at Birmingham and spent 21 years at St. Andrew's as a player before moving into management.

In 1957, he featured in a 3-1 win over Arsenal in North London aged 35 years, 8 months and 23 days old.

He went on to manage Blues, Bromsgrove Rovers and Atherstone Town. He sadly passed away in 2010 aged 88.

Birmingham even renamed the Railway Stand at their St Andrew's stadium the Gil Merrick Stand for the start of the 2009–10 season.

N'Gotty comes in at number eight.

The Frenchman spent four years at Bolton Wanderers and racked up well over 100 appearances for the club, before moving to Birmingham in 2006.

He made 25 league appearances for Blues in 2006/07, before departing for Leicester in 2007. He won promotion with the club the same year.

He did feature in a 1-0 defeat to Preston North End at Deepdale in May 2007, at the age of 35 years, 10 months and 26 days old.

He made six caps for France and finished his career at I'AS Lattes.

Focusing on more recent times, Lee Camp is the seventh oldest player to have ever played for Blues.

He joined Birmingham in 2018 after a brief spell at Cardiff City and went on to make over 80 league appearances for Blues.

He left Blues at the end of last season upon the expiry of his contract having been a regular under former boss Pep Clotet.

He has spent time at Coventry City and Swindon Town this season.

In his last appearance for Blues - a 3-1 defeat to Derby County in July - he was 35 years and 11 months old.

Birmingham-born Carsley is Blues' sixth oldest ever player.

The former Coventry and Blackburn midfielder left Everton to join Birmingham in 2008. He won the club's player of the year award in his first season at St. Andrew's.

He went on to have two years at Blues, and even took caretaker charge of the club in 2017. He yielded one win from three games in that time.

His last appearance for the club came against Burnley in a 2-1 home win, and at the time, he was 36 years, 2 months and 3 days old.

Moving back into the goalkeeper trend and Nico Vaesen comes in at number five.

Vaesen - the Belgian shot-stopper - joined Birmingham from Huddersfield Town in 2001, spending five years at St. Andrew's.

He helped Blues win promotion to the Premier League in 2001/02, saving a penalty in the penalty shootout of the play-off final.

He had loan spells with Gillingham, Bradford and Crystal Palace during his time at Blues, and left the club for Lierse in 2006.

In his last appearances for Blues - a heavy defeat to Manchester City in 2005 - he was aged 36 years, 2 months and 19 days old.

Narrowly missing out on the top-three podium is a man who needs no introduction.

Phillips joined Birmingham from West Bromwich Albion in 2008, and was part of the squad which won the League Cup under Alex McLeish in 2011.

He left the club as they were relegated at the end of the season and left having scored 22 goals in 82 appearances for Blues.

His final appearance came in a 2-0 home defeat to Fulham in 2011, and at that time, he was 37 years, 9 months and 20 days old.

He has since had coaching spells with Leicester, Stoke and Derby County.

Moving into the top three is Stan Lynn.

Lynn had spells at Accrington Stanley and Aston Villa before making the move to arch rivals Birmingham in 1961.

Lynn spent four years at Birmingham before leaving the club for Stourbridge in 1966.

He was a League Cup winner in 1963, and finished as Birmingham's joint leading scorer in 1964/65.

In a 3-3 home draw with Leeds United in 1965, he was aged 38 years, 10 months and 8 days old.

Just missing out on top spot is former goalkeeper Maik Taylor.

The 49-year-old joined Blues initially on loan from Fulham in 2004, before signing a permanent deal and going on to have seven years at St. Andrew's.

He had to battle for a place in the side with Colin Doyle, Joe Hart and Ben Foster during his time at Birmingham and left the club having made only four appearances in 2010/11.

Taylor won promotion to the Premier League twice with Birmingham, as well as lifting the League Cup in 2011.

In 2011, he helped Blues win 4-1 against Millwall aged 39 years, 4 months and 4 days old.

Coming in at number one and Blues' oldest player to have played for the club is Paul Robinson.

'Robbo' was an excellent servant for the club, spending six years at Birmingham after spells with West Bromwich Albion and Watford.

The defender made over 150 league appearances for Blues, and hung up his boots in 2018.

He made his final appearance in a 3-1 home win over Fulham which saw Blues stay up on the final day of the season.

He was 39 years, 4 months and 22 days old at that time.