Birmingham City's David Murphy has no fear of relegation next season

Jun 18 2009 by Colin Tattum, Birmingham Mail

Yet these are the sort of occasions they slogged away in the Championship for.

“There was a real determination among the lads to get promotion straight away,” said Murphy.

“It was tough for us, everyone raised themselves when they played us, but we did what we set out to do and the character in the squad really showed.

“That’s what got us promotion really. We were very tightly knit throughout and that’s going to be important to us next season as well.”

Defensively, Blues, the best unit in the Championship, will have a new look come August 15.

Radhi Jaidi has been released, Liam Ridgewell is recovering from a broken leg and Murphy is hoping to be ready for the big kick-off after fracturing his kneecap.

Scott Dann and Geovanny Espinoza have been signed, Roger Johnson could follow and Djimi Traore remains a possibility. McLeish could look for another left-back as well.

Then there’s the likely addition of Joe Hart in goal.

Murphy, who fought a battle with Franck Queudrue for his spot last season, said: “Competition spurs you on. You’ve got to perform to the best of your ability, and it’s healthy for the club.

“Last season, the lads spoke a lot about the defence. We felt that if we concentrated on keeping a clean sheet then our attacking players were good enough to win games for us.”

Murphy’s rehabilitation is going according to plan.

He has another four weeks of post-operation rest to go before he can begin to build up the muscle wastage in his thigh, caused by the inactivity.