Birmingham City slumped to yet another defeat at the weekend as goals from Adam Armstrong and Bradley Dack secured a 2-0 victory for Blackburn Rovers at St. Andrews.

Armstrong and Dack are two top quality players who Premier League defenders would struggle to contain, but unfortunately for the Blues this game wasn't an isolated incident - the whole team have not lived up to expectations all season.

Aitor Karanka arrived in the summer and brought in some key players such as former Athletic Bilbao defender Mikel San Jose and the return of Aston Villa striker Scott Hogan on a permanent deal.

And after an indifferent start to the campaign, excitement burst out around the blue half of the second city as Birmingham confirmed the addition of Croatian midfielder Alen Halilovic until the end of the season.

The 24-year-old was expected to give Birmingham's attack more of a cutting edge, but Halilovic has been restricted to just four appearances so far and is currently sidelined with an injury.

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Shockingly the top scorer in the league this season for the Blues has just two goals, and no fewer than seven players are currently sharing that honour.

It seems like a creative player who can make things happen rather than an out-and-out striker is desperately needed in order for Birmingham to start firing again - and they should go and save Manchester City starlet Patrick Roberts from a nightmare loan spell at Middlesbrough.

Once thought of as one of the country's hottest talents, Roberts joined City from Fulham as an 18-year-old in 2015 in a £12 million deal, but has made just one first team appearance for them and has had loan spells at Celtic, Girona and Norwich City.

A season-long switch to the Riverside was supposed to reinvigorate his career, but Roberts has spent most of his time on the bench, with Neil Warnock preferring Marvin Johnson and Duncan Watmore on the flanks.

Warnock won't stand in Roberts' way if he wants to seek football elsewhere, and that's likely to alert several Championship clubs to his availability if he returns to City.

If any club in the second tier needs Roberts, it's definitely Birmingham, and despite his lack of game-time over the last couple of years, fans would surely be delighted if Karanka was to target the 23-year-old attacker.