Krystian Bielik caused a stir with bold Birmingham City claim - but he was bang on | OneFootball

Bielik's previous comments caused quite the stir among League One fanbases

Just six months ago, Birmingham City captain Krystian Bielik caused quite a reaction when he declared that his side were "too good for League One" after he netted the decisive goal in a 3-2 win over Peterborough United at St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park.

Fast-forward to the present day, and the versatile Polish international saw his statement justified, ironically, after a 2-1 victory against the same opponents, who Blues face once more this weekend as Chris Davies' side look to wrap up a historic season with the EFL Trophy at Wembley Stadium.

Bielik has found himself in and out of Davies' side throughout the season amid injury-related setbacks and the strong form displayed by the imperious centre-back partnership of Christoph Klarer and Ben Davies, whilst the Asian duo of Paik-Seung Ho and Tomoki Iwata have excelled at the base of midfield.

And, after the social media posts which echoed his prior thoughts would have been bookmarked aplenty by supporters of divisional and highly likely, geographical rivals, the former Arsenal academy graduate would be the one having the last laugh on this particular occasion, as the West Midlands side look to continue making history with eight games of the season to go in all competitions.

Krystian Bielik's previous admission on Birmingham City in League One

The club captain's previous statement was made in the midst of the club's best start to a league campaign since 1946, as Davies' side went unbeaten in their first eight league games, winning seven of those.

During that run, Birmingham came from behind to earn victories against their eventual nearest challengers for promotion in Wycombe Wanderers and Wrexham, before wiping out a 2-0 deficit against Posh through Willum Willumsson, Jay Stansfield and the aforementioned Bielik.

This period saw Bluenoses already aware of a shift in mentality and quality compared to previous squads at St Andrew's, with the 27-year-old echoing those thoughts in a way which was described as arrogant by opposition supporters.

"We're League One but I don't think there are any players in this team who are League One players," he told BBC Radio WM.

"All of them are at a higher level. In six months time we'll be a Championship team and a different animal.

"We stay humble and keep our feet on the ground and we don't want to choke on it. But the reality is we're too good for League One," The former Derby County man concluded.

Despite being among the early-season front-runners, it became a criticism of Davies' squad that they, at times, lacked a ruthless edge in the latter stages of 2024, which saw points dropped against the likes of Mansfield Town, Northampton Town and Blackpool, as well as suffering two of their three defeats on the road to Charlton Athletic and the league's bottom club, Shrewsbury Town.

Davies later admitted that the 3-2 defeat at Croud Meadow sparked a reaction after mass disappointment, which was evident as Blues embarked on a 19-game unbeaten run, 14 of which were wins.

Blues would suffer only their third setback of the league season against Bolton Wanderers on March 4th, just days after opening up a double-figure lead over Wycombe and Wrexham, but that has since been restored with an emphatic reaction of seven games unbeaten, with 18 goals scored in that time.

Bielik was one of six changes heading into the first of two matchups with Darren Ferguson's side, and the man who has only featured twice in the starting lineup since January amid interest from Stoke City, was quick to get his point across once more as Birmingham hit 100 goals in all competitions and extended a club-record points haul to 95 from 40 games.

"It's not a surprise. We have a very good team, and I said at the beginning we have very good players and quality through the team. I said earlier in the season I could see what was going on, the way we trained - we have never played that way before," the 11-time international stated via Birmingham Live.

"This is a new Birmingham City. We have changed all the players. I'm so glad I'm a part of this."

Tuesday night was confirmation of the first tick in the box for Tom Wagner and Davies, with the club already showcasing their forward-thinking movement in the previous transfer window as Taylor Gardner-Hickman - who netted the promotion-winning strike - saw his loan switch made permanent for £1.5m, whilst Phil Neumann will add further competition for Bielik at the heart of defence as his pre-contract agreement becomes official at the end of the season.