Nine months, 45 games later (59 in all) and Blues are there – in the Championship play-offs.

There may be Reading to come in the last match of the regular season, but Blues’ fate now boils down to a potential three-game series in the play-offs.

At the campaign’s start many imagined that it would not come to this.

The over-riding atmosphere was one of fear and pessimism.

Instead, optimism abounds at St Andrew’s. And supporters have already declared themselves delighted with what Blues have done, and with what they have seen.

Chris Hughton’s stock among the faithful is higher than the Rotunda.

And, typically, when Blues’ play-off participation was confirmed with the draw at Brighton & Hove Albion last Saturday, Hughton deflected the praise on to his players, and also stated that the board deserved credit, too.

“I am delighted for this group of players,” he said.

“They have worked very hard all season.

“Me, I have had great support from the chairman [Peter Pannu] and the owner at this club, and I am happy for them – they deserve it.

“It was a tough summer, and it has been a tough season with the amount of games we’ve had to play.

“I am just happy for all concerned.”

Hughton added: “We have had so many games this season nobody was quite sure what to expect.

“Would we have settled for a play-off position at the start of the season? Yes, we would have done.

“There were plenty of comings and goings, we’ve brought in some really good players to this football club and added to that we’ve had a lot of players who have had to play a lot of games.