'Let them try' - Laird happy Birmingham are targets

Ethan Laird made two appearances for Manchester United and had loans with MK Dons, Swansea, Bournemouth and QPR before joining Birmingham

"Let them try. It's something that's always going to happen when a club has a buzz about them."

Ethan Laird was in bullish mood - buzzing, even - as he looked forward to the start of the Championship season and the prospect of Birmingham City strutting their stuff in a week's time with large metaphorical targets on their backs.

And there is a strut to Blues - a justified one - given the way they swept to the League One title last season in a record-breaking cruise with 34 wins and 111 points.

The targets will be there because of not only what the players have done on the pitch, but what the club are doing off it.

Ambitious, rich owners Knighthead are bankrolling a charge to the Premier League along with a regeneration of the city's sporting landscape.

They are not messing about.

Premier League ambitions

As a result, the club's profile has gone through the roof and will only be pumped higher by their Amazon Prime documentary series, fronted by NFL legend and minority investor Tom Brady, which airs on Friday.

It is hard to think of a Championship club that has demanded more eyeballs on them in recent years.

Defender Laird, who is used to life in the goldfish bowl of scrutiny having come through the youth system to play for Manchester United, says the chatter around Blues is understandable.

"I believe there's a difference between hype and buzz," he told BBC Midlands Today.

"Hype is around clubs where things could happen, buzz is because something is actually happening.

"And that's why other clubs and fans are saying things - but that's part of football and we love it."

When Sir Alex Ferguson took over success-starved Manchester United in 1986, he said knocking dominant rivals Liverpool "off their perch" was his ultimate driving force.

Although Birmingham's perch is not as lofty as the Reds' was then, or now, Laird understands their league rivals will echo Ferguson's sentiment.

"It's almost like fuel for us," he said.

"Because what Birmingham is made out of is a lot of heart and when we go out on to the pitch, it's 100% pedal to the metal.

"To be honest, it's not going to affect us because it's opinions and opinions are thrown everywhere - someone says something good and someone says something bad.

"We all have a goal here. We want to be in the Premier League.

"It's a matter of when, not if, and we're all driven - we're all wishing to be there and we're all working hard to be there."

'We want an amazing season'

Jay Stansfield moved to Birmingham City for £15m, a record fee paid by a League One club

A return to the top flight is the number one priority of chairman Tom Wagner and one player in the Blues ranks who is arguably the posterboy of that ambition is striker Jay Stansfield.

Birmingham broke the League One transfer record to sign the England Under-21 international from Fulham and he repaid that faith by spearheading their promotion with 19 goals.

Stansfield, who scored 12 times during a season-long loan from the Cottagers when Blues were relegated from the Championship two years ago, says having such ambitious owners is an inspiration.

"Every young footballer wants to be a Premier League footballer so to be in a club where the owner's really ambitious to do that is special," Stansfield said.

"It gives us that extra drive to get to where they want to be.

"As players you want to do your best for them - they've backed you and showed faith and you want to give that back to them and the fans by giving them an amazing season."

That campaign starts next Friday when they host the last team to go back-to-back from League One to the Premier League, Ipswich Town.

"Hopefully we'll be up there but, we've said many times, we're not getting ahead of ourselves," Stansfield added.

"Last season wasn't easy. We came though it in the end and did very well.

"But the season before we were relegated - the Championship's very hard, there are some very good teams coming down from the Premier League.

"It'll be a good benchmark to see whether we can challenge the best teams."