KELLY WARY OF RELEGATION THREAT

Kelly - ever-present this season.

Birmingham defender Stephen Kelly admits he will feel "tainted" if he completes an ever present record for the midlands club against Blackburn on Sunday and ends up being relegated.

Kelly goes into the make-or-break St Andrews clash having played the full 90 minutes in City's 37 Premier League games during the 2007-2008 campaign.

It is a record the former Tottenham player is proud of, especially after making the move from White Hart Lane two years ago to play regular first-team football.

But Kelly acknowledges he may have a different viewpoint if Alex McLeish's side drop back into the Championship.

Blues have to defeat Rovers and then hope both Fulham and Reading fail to win at Portsmouth and Derby respectively.

Kelly said: "It is going to taint me if I play every game and we go down. I am proud of the fact I have played every game and kept my place in the team which is no easy feat.

"It is going to be difficult to take if we go down but the record is something to be proud of and not something many people achieve.

"I have played a few times with a bit of pain or an injury when other players might not have played. I think that is credit to myself. But, like I said, the feeling will not be so good if I do it and we go down."

Kelly knows what is at stake tomorrow but insists Birmingham have to be fully focused on trying to overcome Mark Hughes' side.

He said: "It is a career and your livelihood at stake but we have to put that to the back of our mind to get the job done. It is hard to take and this is the first time I have ever been in this situation.

"It is totally different to at Tottenham where we were always in the middle of the table or pushing for Europe but as a footballer you are going to deal with different types of pressure."

Kelly is aware that Blues' tendency to concede goals from set pieces has been a major reason for their current predicament.

They have not kept a clean sheet since the 3-0 home success over Middlesbrough on Boxing Day.

Kelly said: "We have conceded way too many goals from set pieces and as a team we have not defended set pieces well enough and not been aggressive enough.

"We work on it during the week and in training but sometimes individual errors have cost us. The training has been good and we all know our jobs but it is applying it on the pitch.

McLeish believes City, who are 1-7 on with some bookmakers to be relegated, can achieve their part of what is required to survive in the top flight.

He said: "We have played our best football here at St Andrews and there is no reason why we can't get a result here and then hope other results go our way.

"We have shown confidence here. We have let a couple of leads slip against Liverpool and Everton. We have had some good performances at St Andrews and not winning them has been the cause of some of our problems.

"But the lads have the experience of going up last season so they can lean on that but every individual has got to be happy with their individual performance on Sunday.

"They have to come off thinking they have given everything they can. Blackburn are a slick team and it is not an easy one for us and we will have to punch above our weight again."