By Aydan Anderson
February 17 2005

Blues goalkeeper Maik Taylor has urged his team to find some consistency over the last part of the season in order to push Birmingham into the top half...

Birmingham goalkeeper Maik Taylor has told his team mates that they need to show some consistency over the next few games if they are to better last seasons finish of 10th place.

The Northern Ireland international admits the club have struggled this season and puts that down to a lack of consistency:

“We know the major factor why we haven’t done as well as maybe we should have this season is lack of consistency."

“It’s something we spoke about before the Liverpool game. We tend to play well against the top sides but we need to play to a high level week-in and week-out."

This has been highlighted by blues superb performances this season against the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool and yet the team have failed to win home ties against lowly Crystal Palace, and Norwich.

There is no doubt amongst the home crowd that blues have a much stronger squad than last season and the teams poor performances at times have resulted in frustration by the fans. But Taylor is convinced the bad displays are behind them and that the squad have finally clicked into gear:

“We’ve got a lot of quality in the squad and now have that togetherness back that was the foundation for us last season."

"On paper we’ve got a much stronger squad than last season. Against Liverpool last Saturday we translated that strength out on to the pitch and if we keep doing that then there’s only one direction we’re going in.”

And Taylor is certain that blues can still finish higher than last season and has refused to rule out a last minute push for the top six, and the ultimate dream of European football:

"The league table is so tight that we’re not a million miles away from sixth spot, strange though that seems."

“We said at the start of the season we were setting out to improve on last year. That is certainly well-achievable. We are only three points off that tenth spot."

With three key games coming up against Crystal Palace (away), West Brom (away) and Aston Villa (home) blues have the chance to prove their top half credentials and Taylor is hopeful of a maximum points return of nine points from the three games and a late push into the UEFA cup places:

“Now we’ve got three huge games coming up against Palace, Albion and Aston Villa. And if we can find the consistency that has eluded us too often this season then who knows?