Liam Ridgewell is sure that Nikola Zigic will get even better with a season’s experience under his belt at Birmingham City.

Blues' £6 million striker scored key goals in the games against Manchester City, West Ham United and Stoke City, the latter two winners.

Those results – a draw and back to back wins – helped ease Blues relegation fears somewhat.

And although Blues fell flat on Tuesday when Newcastle United claimed the three points at St Andrew’s, Zigic maintained a threatening presence when it just wasn’t happening all around him in the main.

Many people, including some Blues fans, were quick to ridicule the 6ft 8in giant early on after his summer move from Valencia.

“It is difficult when people are talking about you and there are bits and bobs but he has kept focused on what he needs to do and is getting his rewards at the moment, and long may it continue,” said Ridgewell.

“It might have affected some people. It has affected bigger players before, that sort of thing, and it shows how broad his shoulders are and how mature and good a player he is.

“He is starting to cause more problems now. He is starting to get more aggressive and more used to the league.

“It is not easy for anyone to come into the league and try and put their stamp on it.

“He’s got to learn the league, and learn about us, and we’ve got to learn about him as well.

“I think once he gets a pre-season in him, hopefully that will help him more but he’s definitely a handful and has really done well in recent games.”

Blues take a break from the league with Sheffield Wednesday the visitors this Saturday in the FA Cup fifth round.

Then it’s the big one – the Carling Cup final against Arsenal.

So have players been stepping up their performance levels with Wembley on the horizon? Nobody, naturally, wants to be left out of Blues biggest day in a decade.

“There is always an edge,” said Ridgewell. “We’ve a big squad and there are new players who have come in and everyone wants to be playing.

“Every day in training, everyone wants to make sure they are doing things right and try to put it in on the Saturday.”

Ridgewell suffered a calf problem in the 2-0 loss to Newcastle and, although he soldiered on, he may not be risked on Saturday.

However, with Martin Jiranek (thigh) and Curtis Davies also injured, the options could be thin on the ground for manager Alex McLeish.