BLUES will play host to Bolton next Saturday refreshed and “raring to go” insists Craig Gardner.

The midfielder and his team-mates, barring those away on international duty, returned to training at Wast Hills yesterday after a few days off to shed the stresses and strains of 13 games – including the little matter of a two-legged cup semi-final and then a final – in two months.

It has been a hectic schedule for Alex McLeish’s squad and the catalogue of fixtures has left it’s imprint with plenty of players in the treatment room.

Nobody connected with Blues would have had it any other way as they charged to Carling Cup triumph at Wembley – but now the stark reality is that they have a lot of hard work to do to ensure the euphoria of cup triumph is not follwed by the devastation of relegation.

Every game is of mighty importance from now on but none more so than the next two. How Blues fare on the next two Saturdays, at home to Bolton then away to fellow-strugglers Blackburn, will dictate the mood and confidence-levels going into a final batch of games which included tough visits to Chelsea, Liverpool, Newcastle and Tottenham.

Towards the end of a momentous season, the pressure is only increasing. But Gardner believes the brief respite of last week has set Blues’ players up well for the run-in.