Birmingham City players know they must step up their game away to Hull tonight – and they are in the mood to do exactly that, believes assistant boss Colin Calderwood.

After a 1-0 defeat at Cardiff on Sunday, when they never really got going, Blues visit the promotion-chasing Tigers under pressure to turn one of their games in hand into three points.

Their Europa League campaign has left them playing catch-up in the league so they can ill-afford low-key displays like the one at Cardiff.

The players are well aware of that, insists Calderwood, who detects an “appetite” amongst them to bounce back hard at Hull – and ensure that the match-backlog becomes a trump card rather than a burden.

“It can be our strength and we have to use it in that way,” he said.

“The games in hand are cards that we hold in our hand that no-one else has. We need to get parity with the top teams in the league in the next three or four games and, if we do that, then the games in hand become a super advantage.

“If we can win them they will not just lift us one or two places up the league but ten or 12, I would imagine.

"We know we need a better result than last Sunday and the appetite is there among the players for it. One mistake cost us at Cardiff and we know we have to be at a better level tonight.

"The players appreciate that, I could see that from them after the game and have seen it in their mood as we approach the game at Hull.