Both the Blues and Bristol Academy have lost touch with the other six teams in the top tier after eight games and it appears inevitable that one of those two are facing the drop.
Defeat to Notts County in the Continental Tyres Cup in midweek continued the winless run for the Midlands side and next up in the league they host defending champions Liverpool.
Birmingham City v Liverpool
FA WSL 1
2pm, Sunday 26 July 2015
Solihull Moors FC
Having only scored one league goal so far, Mannion admits that she and her teammates must start finding the back of the net if they are to drag themselves clear of the mire.
“This time last year we had just lost the semi-finals of the Champions League and were fighting at the top of the table,” she said.
“But we are in a relegation battle with Bristol Academy now and it will come down to who wants it more.
“You always want to be winning games against the teams around you in the table so the Liverpool game is a bit of a six-pointer for us.
“Liverpool are a great side that have won the league for the last two years so we know that we will need to be at the top of our game if we want to beat them.
“But at the same time we know we have to match these sides if we want to be winning trophies.
“We have only scored one goal this season in the league but as defenders we need to be keeping clean sheets as well, defensively we take as much responsibility as our forwards.”
Meanwhile Lucy Staniforth and Liverpool are leaving it very late if they want to mount a title challenge this season.
Liverpool's Lucy Stainforth
Currently sixth in the table, the Reds will need to find their best form as soon as possible but Staniforth, who is returning to fitness after a cruciate ligament injury in May, is adamant they can respond.
“It always seems to be the Liverpool way that when the going gets tough we show our character and actual quality within the team – it always shines through when we have our backs against the wall,” she said.
“We have made it a bit harder for ourselves this year and we can’t keep doing that for the whole season, but the Arsenal game straight after the break was a very good result.
“They’re a very good team and with the signings they’re made they’re going to come good. But we had most of our squad together for the whole break and you can see what we’ve been building on in that game. With Fara (Williams) back it gives us that extra bit of class.
“Birmingham away is never easy and we lost to them in the FA Cup at their place earlier this year, but we got a positive result at home after that and hopefully we can take that forward into this game.”
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