Talk of the Town

For Town fans it’s been a rare occurrence in recent years. The Blues last hit the top for two hours on Boxing Day after they defeated Brentford 4-2 in a lunchtime kick-off, a tantalisingly brief taste of life at the top.

Prior ti that there was a first-day flash in the pan, a 3-0 win at Bristol City on the opening day of 2011/12 taking Paul Jewell’s Blues to the summit before three games without a league win – including a 5-2 home defeat to Southampton and that 7-1 loss at Peterborough – put rather a dampener on proceedings.

You have to go back to August 2007 for the last time Town found themselves at the top of the Championship after three games when Jim Magilton’s Blues shared an identical record with Coventry City.

Town most recently did more than merely flirt with first place back in the 2004/05 campaign in which Joe Royle’s Blues vied with Jewell’s Wigan and Mick McCarthy’s Sunderland all year before ultimately missing out on an automatic promotion place.

It’s far too early to say whether this will be another of those brief flirtations or a more serious promotion tilt but the early evidence is positive.

The Blues have seven points after three games and but for the uncharacteristic injury time wobble at Brentford would be two points clear on a maximum nine points.

Aside from the spell between the 92nd and 96th minutes at Griffin Park, Town dominated the Bees, while a promising Sheffield Wednesday side were overcome at home on Saturday.

Having gone behind against the run of play, the Blues quickly got back on terms via Freddie Sears’ first goal of the season and in the second half Tommy Smith nodded home a deserved winner.

But perhaps the most encouraging result so far was Tuesday’s 2-0 victory over Burnley, much-fancied to bounce back to the Premier League at the first attempt.

The game was similar to the match between the teams at Portman Road during the Clarets’ promotion campaign two years ago, a tight, hard-fought affair between two evenly-matched sides.

Back then the visitors claimed the three points when Scott Arfield headed the game’s only goal 10 minutes from the end.

But this time the Blues gradually got on top and two goals in five minutes from man of the moment Sears and David McGoldrick – his first goal of his injury hit year – saw Town to what in the end was a comfortable victory.

While the wing play of Ryan Fraser – who was subbed with a knock against the Clarets – and Ainsley Maitland-Niles characterised the performances against Brentford and Wednesday, the display against Burnley was more like McCarthy’s attritional Blues of previous seasons, never giving an inch and eventually battling the opposition into submission.

That’s not to say there weren’t moments of class, most notably Sears’ goal, the former Colchester man deftly caressing home Brett Pitman’s low cross.

Earlier in the day the 25-year-old had put pen to paper on a new contract taking him to June 2019 with an option for a further season.

Following his January move from the U’s, Sears took to Championship football like a duck to water, scoring nine goals. He seems to have started this season having stepped up another notch and is looking like another very astute McCarthy purchase.

Saturday sees Town visit newly-promoted Preston North End, not one of the Blues’ happier hunting grounds.

A 3-0 FA Cup triumph in January 1980 was their last victory at Deepdale, while you have to go back to a 1-0 success in January 1966 for Town’s last league win there.

Preston have made a solid but not overly exciting-sounding return to the Championship following their promotion from League One via the play-offs, drawing 0-0 both at home to Middlesbrough and away at Rotherham, with a 1-0 win at the MK Dons sandwiched in between.

An away point is always welcome, particularly at bogey grounds, but the way the Blues have started the season you could certainly see them grabbing all three.

That Championship table could still have that very pleasing look to it come 5pm on Saturday.