Bristol City striker Adebola puts his wheels on the line

DELE Adebola is quite prepared to put his car on the line when he comes up against Championship promotion favourites Birmingham City at Ashton Gate tonight.

Bristol City's veteran striker spent five years on the Blues' books and still lives in nearby Solihull.

And he is acutely aware that a Bristol win will not go down at all well with friends and neighbours in the Midlands.

"If I score and we win, then I'll probably get home to find my car on bricks," joked the Scouser.

"I've lived near Birmingham for quite a few years and have a lot of friends there. Most of them are Blues fans and they're all hoping I'm going to be on the losing side.

"I've already had a few messages from some of them telling me not to score."

Should the opportunity arise, Adebola will not hesitate to upset his mates. If nothing else, a win bonus will go towards the cost of a new set of wheels. He admitted: "I'm going to come in for a lot of stick if we lose, so I'd far rather go back home having scored a hat-trick and helped us win the game.

"If that happens, I'll be looking forward to getting back to Solihull as quickly as I can. But then again, if I upset them too much, I may have to consider moving house!"

He added: "I have only good memories of my time with Birmingham and their fans are top class. But that was five or six years ago now and I'm not holding on to any of that. I'm a Bristol City player now and I'd love to score and for us to beat them."

A member of the Blues side which won promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs in 2002, Adebola knows how important top-flight football is to the blue half of England's second city.

And he believes Birmingham, relegated from the Premiership last season, and unbeaten so far this term, represent a yardstick by which all other Championship clubs can be measured.

He said: "Birmingham are not favourites to go straight back up for nothing. They are a massive club and the fans demand Premier League football.

"They've been there before and they will want to go straight back up if they can. They certainly have the squad to do it.

"Most of their players are internationals and they've all played in the Premier League. They may not be the most attractive side in the Championship, but they are probably the hardest to beat.

"They are very, very solid, have a strong squad and a good, experienced manager. That's why they're still unbeaten after five games."

Adebola has first-hand knowledge of Blues centre-backs Martin Taylor and Liam Ridgewell and anticipates a bruising battle this evening.

He revealed: "I've played against both of them before and they're big fellas who don't give you an inch.

"It's one of those games where you have to win the battle before you can earn the right to play."

Adebola will again be joined in attack by record signing Nicky Maynard and the elder statesman believes their fledgling partnership is close to bearing fruit.

He conceded: "The two-week international break didn't do us any favours, because we're still getting to know one another's games and we need time together to develop.

"I think that's why we got off to such a slow start at Cardiff on Saturday, and that's not something you can afford to do against the better teams in the Championship. But we got better in the second half and created a few good chances. We now need to build on that understanding when we play Birmingham."