Birmingham captain Kenny Cunningham, whose side face Arsenal at Highbury on Sunday, acknowledges the quality that current champions Chelsea possess in abundance.
Arsenal have made a stuttering start which has left them 11 points adrift of their big-spending London rivals, albeit with a game in hand.
But Cunningham is adamant Arsene Wenger's side can mount a serious challenge once the likes of Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Gilberto are back to full fitness.
The Republic of Ireland skipper said: "People are writing Arsenal off and it's ridiculous this early into the season to think like that.
"Of course, Chelsea have started very strong and everyone knows how difficult they are going to be to beat. But things can change very quickly in football.
"Arsenal have had a few injuries to key players already this season. As long as they can stay on the shirt-tails of Chelsea for the first couple of months of the season, and get those key players back, then they'll be fine.
"Arsenal are capable of going unbeaten between now and the end of the season and it's the same sort of thing with Manchester United as well."
The Blues have their own lengthy injury list and, with Nicky Butt and Neil Kilkenny suspended, have only 13 fit senior players available.
But Cunningham believes Birmingham will take encouragement from last weekend's 2-2 draw with Liverpool which halted a run of three successive home defeats.
He said: "We will take some heart from that performance against Liverpool into the Arsenal game. We know exactly what we will be facing down there. We need to show the same kind of traits that we did last weekend.
"It's going to be a game where we are not going to be able to be too cavalier. We'll have to shown them a bit of respect. We will have to defend in numbers at times.
"We will have to be patient and it's down to the same old principles - good concentration, good decision-making all over the pitch - and hopefully we can cause them problems as well.
"They are going to enjoy the majority of possession. They are going to boss the game for long periods but that doesn't give them the divine right to win the game. We've got to get back to making ourselves hard to beat.
"Your concentration levels have to be good, you have to be organised, disciplined, defend well as a unit. You can't give away silly goals and we have done that this season.
"There have been individual mistakes which have cost us and we have to cut that sort of thing out. We have to get back to keeping clean sheets. We haven't done enough of that this season.
"It is certainly not panic stations. We certainly believe there is enough quality in the side. We are disappointed in the start we have made but we certainly believe there is a lot more to come from the team."
Walter Pandiani is being given the opportunity by Blues boss Steve Bruce to stake a claim for a regular spot up front after scoring as a substitute against Liverpool.
The Uruguayan will line up alongside Emile Heskey with Bruce deciding Mikael Forssell is still lacking match sharpness after his lengthy lay-off following knee surgery last season.
Forssell scored twice in the Carling Cup against Scunthorpe but has still to find the net in the Premiership since signing from Chelsea for £3million in the summer.
