CRAIG Gardner believes Blues have got all the ingredients required to climb away from trouble in the Premiership’s tightest-ever relegation scrap.

As the season turns towards its run-in, the bottom eight clubs in the table are separated by just three points.

Even Sunderland, up in ninth but slipping after six games without a win, are far from safe, just six points above the safety line.

It is not out of the question that Steve Bruce could be getting seriously twitchy by the time the Black Cats visit St Andrew’s on April 16.

While such congestion offers evidence of how depressingly superior the ultra-rich clubs at the top have become, it makes for a complex and fascinating plot down below. The final acts of the season promise more twists and turns than you can shake a stick at.

The equation is further complicated by the fact that no team has become tailed off, a state of affairs which would have changed if Blues had not blown a 1-0 lead to lose at Wigan in their last game. That result gave the Latics a lifeline.

The Sword of Damocles hangs over half the division and it will be a fight to the bitter end. But Gardner is confident Blues have the attributes and, most importantly, the fighting spirit, needed to secure their Premiership status.

“You can be a brilliant team but if you have not got that fighting spirit you have got no chance,” the midfielder said. “And all the lads in our changing room are fighters.

“Most have been in this situation before so know what is involved. We will fight and keep on fighting. We will give blood, sweat and tears and keep going and going until we are safe. It is going to be an unbelievable scrap but we are ready for it. The players and the staff are ready to take on the chin anything that comes our way. We are all in it together.