Birmingham City manager Chris Davies says Blues "have gone up a gear" in taking nine Championship points out of nine since the international break.

Three straight wins, three clean sheets and eight goals, with three each for strikers August Priske and Liam Millar and two for Demarai Gray, have cemented Blues' place in fourth.

They are now just three points off leaders Swansea City heading into Saturday's visit to Cardiff City.

"We spent our time well in the break," Davies told BBC Radio WM. "We've looked good to get the nine points. I do think we've improved our game.

"We've gone up a gear and hopefully we can keep that going."

He was particularly pleased with last Saturday's 3-0 home win over Queens Park Rangers, as Blues stretched their unbeaten run to five games, having taken 13 points out of a possible 15.

"It was one of our most decisive performances," he said. "QPR are a good team - but we took our chances.

"When you win it's not all good and, when you lose, it's not all bad. It's up to me to decide what we take from every performance. That's part of my job."

And Davies is quietly confident there is more to come.

If third-placed Middlesbrough fail to win at Bolton on Friday, West Ham United do not win at home to Southampton on Saturday and leaders Swansea City lose at QPR, then Davies's Blues could even leap from fourth to top - if they beat Cardiff.

But the Welshman warns that the improving Bluebirds will be no pushover, having picked up seven points out of a possible 12 from their past four matches.

"Cardiff will test us," he added. "I've seen the video of their 5-1 win over Watford - and then they get a result at Middlesbrough."

But Davies had already suggested that Blues' tough opening set of fixtures might prove challenging, which it did.

And now they are starting to pick up momentum, with Saturday's trip to the Welsh capital followed by a visit to another promoted side Lincoln City and a midweek home game with Millwall before they host current leaders Swansea.