AFTER a miserable run in January when they failed to win a game, Steve Bruce's Blues have bounced back this month winning the only two games they have played.

But with the clock ticking in the race for the top six, the much travelled manager knows that time is not on his side as he targets a play-off place for the club for the third successive season.

Bruce thinks the play-offs are within reach as he admitted: "We've strung a couple of results together and if we play like we did in the first hour of the game and take the sloppiness out of it we're a threat.

"We've got to stay injury free and get the bounce of the ball and a bit of luck and we've got a chance. In the next two or three weeks I think we are going to see some strange results in the division.

"But we've got big game players here that enjoy the edge."

In the previous two years it was Blues' legend Trevor Francis who was at the helm but his failure to get them into the Premier League after almost six years finally cost him his job last autumn.

What followed was more LA Law than Footballers' Wives as Bruce, a former club captain under Francis, was taken to court by his chairman at Crystal Palace in an attempt to stop him walking out on his contract.

The plot thickened as Francis was named as the new boss of the Eagles before Bruce was finally given the all clear to take charge at St Andrews.

He has wasted little time in bringing in some new faces with Jeff Kenna, Steve Vickers, Stern John and Paul Devlin all new arrivals.

Devlin is on loan from Sheffield United with Paul Furlong having gone in the other direction and he played his second game back at the club at the weekend.

That was also John's second match after his arrival from Nottingham Forest having scored a winning goal on his debut.

Vickers missed the win against Watford with a knee injury and Bruce has a couple of other injury worries as Michael Johnson and Darren Purse both picked up knocks.

Geoff Horsfield missed Saturday's win through illness but Tommy Mooney impressed in attack with two goals against his former side.