Birmingham City manager Chris Davies sat down with the media on Thursday to preview the trip to Cardiff City

The lengths Chris Davies will go to in order to outsmart the opposition are well known in Birmingham City circles by now.

Back in Blues’ League One days, Davies revealed that he would regularly spend hours watching the opposition in order to know everything they could and would throw at his team. He would sit through 10 matches, some in full and some in segments, to get a picture of what Blues were coming up against.

Cardiff City are a new opponent for him to analyse. Blues haven’t played the Bluebirds in the last two seasons and Davies and Brian Barry-Murphy have never faced off in the technical area.

As a result, the Blues manager has been grateful for a free midweek to brush up on Cardiff.

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“I don’t watch every minute of every game,” Davies replied when a journalist in his pre-match press conference was taken aback by the extent of the manager’s research.

“I try to watch every minute of the last few games, but I tend to watch periods (of the others). I like to watch the start of the games, then I like to watch just after half-time, then I like to watch the closing part of the game.

“You get a sense of everything there. I like to watch every game a team’s played so I know if they’ve changed system or they’ve got the same shape, what sub comes on and then you get a good feel for them.

“I’ve got a very understanding wife. I like The Traitors but apart from that I don’t watch much telly!”

Davies’ interest in the hit BBC show The Traitors is arguably a greater revelation. Then again, maybe we shouldn’t be surprised given that a football manager’s job is to create a game plan to outwit a group of people every single week.

The notes in Davies’ office will be far more revealing about Cardiff but he was willing to say: “It will be a very difficult match. They’re a good team and well set up in terms of the football they play – 4-3-3, very expansive in the way they play, they open the pitch up.

“They’re difficult to stop, particularly at home, and obviously they will have the home crowd on their side. We’ll be tested without the ball and hopefully we can continue our clinical streak when we get our chances.”

In many ways Blues are facing a team that has followed their template. A big club relegated to League One has built a team with a clear identity, led by a young manager, and bounced back at the first attempt.

Cardiff are now where Blues were 12 months ago. They are an easy-on-the-eye Championship team capable of getting results through playing attractive football, without the knowhow to collect points consistently.

Davies stressed the importance of not becoming complacent in his press conference after three straight victories without conceding a goal.

Cardiff have scored eight goals in their last two home matches, drew 2-2 against a fancied Middlesbrough side last time out despite being without several key players, and have the fourth highest xG (expected goals) in the Championship according to WhoScored. It would be naive to think that they won’t pose Blues problems of some sort.

This Blues team is now a different proposition on the road though. They have already won in South Wales this season and have emerged victorious in four of their six away matches in all competitions.

Key to their recent run of results has been a healthy squad. Davies has selected the same 20 players for the last three games and Cardiff – who are down to the bare bones defensively right now – can only dream of such depth.

Testament to that strength is the fact Paik Seung-ho hasn’t been missed. The South Korean isn’t expected back imminently.

Davies said: “Paik’s made slow progress. I think he’s still a few weeks away. We’ll just have to wait a little bit longer and be patient with it. He’s working hard to minimise that.”

In the meantime, Blues head to Cardiff looking for another maximum.