After picking up some solid results against Wigan Athletic and Rotherham United, Birmingham City's run of form ran dry on Tuesday night as they travelled to Vicarage Road to face Watford.

The Blues were comfortably the second best side on the night, barring a brief spell early in the second half, and come the full-time whistle, were staring down the barrel of a 3-0 defeat.

The result leaves John Eustace's side 18th in the Championship standings at present, seven points clear of Blackpool and the drop zone with nine matches left to play.

Of course, one thing that has not helped the Blues' cause in recent weeks has been the loss of their skipper Troy Deeney to injury.

The 33-year-old has missed the club's last five Championship matches with a hamstring injury, however, a recent social media post suggests the Blues skipper is hard at work in trying to return.

Indeed, Deeney posted the following image on Instagram recently, hinting to supporters that he would be back to business soon.

In the caption to the image, Deeney wrote: "Locked in on this rehab, back to business soon 🔋🔋."

Birmingham City boss John Eustace recently revealed that the Blues skipper was four or five weeks away from a return.

Eustace told the media, via BirminghamLive: "Troy has been a massive miss."

"He’s been a big miss and hopefully he will get back for the last couple of weeks of the season, but we’re still four or five weeks away from seeing him.”

The Verdict

John Eustace said it himself, Troy Deeney has been a big miss for Blues in recent weeks.

In that sense, the sooner he is back the better.

Although Birmingham City still have a decent buffer between themselves and the drop zone, they still need a few more points to be absolutely certain of safety and Deeney returning would help them do that.

Knowing the Blues skipper and the hard work he puts in, don't be surprised to see that four or five week prognosis shortened slightly by his hard rehabilitation work.