Troy Deeney has issued praise for Birmingham City manager Lee Bowyer and also admitted that he has work to do personally to improve his form in front of goal.

The Blues will be looking to put together a good run of form after this international break and get amongst it at the right end of the table, with the very early signs this season positive enough before a little dip.

Indeed, Deeney has praised Bowyer for his work at the club, and said that the former Charlton manager is doing well to try and change the mentality among the playing staff:

"We had a really good start when he first came in, we had a good start this season, the [first] international break probably killed us," Deeney said to League Of 72.

“I’ve come in at the international break and then it looks from the outside like I’ve come in and messed things up.

“Just going through those spells in seasons you do where there’s games we should have won, we didn’t and we are just on the wrong end of it at the minute.

“But he [Bowyer] has been great, I think he is definitely trying to build something here and that he is the right man to push us up the league and get us to where we want to be.

“You are having to change mindsets, when you are in the game you understand that, but for outside people, Birmingham have been, I think three of the last four years, or four of the last five years, last day stayed up. So the mentality is used to relegation battles.

“But he has come in and is changing that and trying to go ‘This is how you be consistent on a daily basis to get up the league’.”

Deeney also admitted that his own form with the Blues could have been better since his arrival, and he is looking to change that as soon as possible.

Indeed, he's said that that has perhaps stopped him from making more demands of his teammates as well as learning you sometimes should hold back from that with experience, but says he will start demanding more if and when his performances start to pick up:

“I would say I have tweaked my approach to it a little bit. Would I have loved to come in and take a sledgehammer to the place and say ‘This is how it needs to be’? Of course I would.

"But I am respectful, I think with age you get bit more respectful. We have already got Harlee Dean who is captain, Jukey [Lukas Jutkiewicz] as well, a big, solid pro.

“You have got a few lads who have been around the block, they know what they are doing, so you don’t have to come in and necessarily smash it to bits.

“But also I have got to hit the ground running and I haven’t done that. So if I can get back to scoring and doing what I do, I think the respect then grows and you are in a position to start demanding more.

The Verdict

Deeney is a strong pro and one that will be desperate to help his local side now that he has signed for them.

Bowyer is proving a popular figure at the club having helped lift the mood there and the hope will be that this season can end up being a productive one.