Former Swans striker Jamal Lowe came back to haunt his old club at Loftus Road a fortnight ago when he fired QPR into a first-half lead, but Jay Fulton’s third goal of the season ensured Russell Martin’s men returned to Wales with a share of the spoils.
After exiting the FA Cup at the third-round stage to divisional-rivals Bristol City, Swansea have only league matters to attend to between now and May, with ambitions of finishing in the top six still a realistic possibility.
Martin’s side are currently 12th in the Championship standings, four points behind sixth-placed Blackburn and just six behind Middlesbrough who sit in third, highlighting the competitiveness of this season’s playoff race.
Swansea have been noticeably inconsistent so far this campaign, with the Welsh side having not won back-to-back league fixtures since October – a record that will need to change soon if they are to break into the top six.
The Swans have enjoyed more possession than any other side in the Championship but have struggled to turn that form of dominance into goals and maximum points, a failure which has hindered the team’s progression up the league table.
Birmingham bowed out of the FA Cup on Tuesday evening after an Austin Trusty own goal gave visiting Blackburn an extra-time winner at St Andrew’s, a result which secured the Lancashire side a clash with Leicester City in the fifth round.
Unlike recent games where the Blues have struggled to pose any sort of attacking threat, John Eustace’s men had the better of the attacking action in their clash with Blackburn, and in truth have only their inability to finish chances to blame for their exit from the competition.
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Eustace’s side have only the Championship to focus on now for the remainder of the campaign, and after five successive losses, Bluenoses are beginning to worry their side could be dragged into their annual relegation battle.
Since returning from the World Cup break, Birmingham have been missing the energy that characterised their success at the start of the season, and their league standing has suffered as a result, with the Blues now just six points above the relegation zone.
Any partial takeover of the club looks very unlikely to take place before the campaign’s end, with the remit for Eustace being – like so many of Birmingham’s managers in recent times – to keep the Blues’ second-tier status safe for another year.
