McFadden: Premier aim

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Birmingham striker James McFadden wants to improve his form to fire the Blues back into the Premier League at the first attempt.

The Scottish striker moved to Birmingham for £5million in the January transfer window.

But the Blues did not stay up, leading to speculation that McFadden could leave St Andrews over the summer.

But he stayed and it looks like his patience could pay off as the Blues currently sit at the top of the Championship table.

He told the Birmingham Mail: "I wouldn't say it's (the Championship) a comedown but I want to play in the Premier League, everybody does.

Biggest rewards

"The Championship has the biggest rewards of any league - it's the division where there's most at stake - and teams tend to tighten up and the football can suffer. It's definitely a competitive league and maybe the football suffers for that."

McFadden added he spoke to boss Alex McLeish after the Blues were relegated but never asked to leave.

He said: "I felt that if the chance came for me to stay in the Premier League then that would be the best thing for me, but it never came about. I never sulked, I never asked to leave.

"Even before we went down, one of the owners (David Gold) said if we went down he'd need to sell the best players, so straight away you're thinking 'where does that leave me - another summer of unsettlement?'

''But nothing ever happened and I'm quite happy, although I'll be honest - I wouldn't be looking forward to a second season in the Championship.

Sitting top

"Right now, though, it's a long time away and at the minute we're sitting top of the league and if we keep getting the results then I won't need to have any thoughts about it."

McFadden believes he now needs to improve on his form, as he has scored just once in the Championship so far.

"It's not been great but I just need to get through it by working hard," he said.

''I've always been self-critical and I'm not going to kid on that I was brilliant if I wasn't.

''Sometimes you go through a wee spell and you're not happy with the way you're playing or you feel you're not playing well, but I wouldn't put it down to any one thing."