Classy Blues delight McLeish; CHAMPIONSHIP ALL THE ACTION FROM LAST NIGHT'S GAMES >.

BLUES manager Alex McLeish felt his men sent out a real statement of intent to their Championship rivals last night.

Their hopes of an immediate return to the Premier League continue to burn bright after an own goal from Robins skipper Louis Carey and Cameron Jerome's early strike earned a fifth win in six games.

The previously unbeaten hosts were fourth in the table before kick off but Birmingham's sheer class silenced a near 19,000 crowd at Ashton Gate for long spells.

McLeish said: "This is a fabulous place to get a victory.

Bristol City will trouble a lot of sides here, even Premier League outfits if they draw them in the FA Cup.

"They are a handful for everyone. I kicked every ball with my players out there and always want my boys to show a winning mentality.

"Some of the stuff we played in the first half was quite outstanding. I changed the shape to a midfield five and the players who came in did an excellent job for me.

"We beat Doncaster at St Andrews last Saturday and that wasn't pretty football. But this was pretty here tonight and I felt we showed resilience when Bristol came forward later.

"They huffed and puffed but couldn't catch us with the long ball."

The margin of victory might have been even more emphatic but for a brave second-half rally by the Robins and substitute Lee Trundle's superb late goal which sparked a rousing finale.

Bristol City boss Gary Johnson said: "I saw a lot of things that pleased me, but we failed in the quality of our crosses and movement in the penalty area.

"We competed well between the 18-yard boxes but we have to do more in the final third and I need to work the lads hard on that aspect of our play."

Birmingham applied pressure from the kick-off, but were fortunate with the way they opened the scoring on eight minutes, Sebastian Larsson's free-kick touched into his own net by Carey.

Jerome then finished well on 24 minutes after Cole Skuse gifted possession to David Murphy.

The slumbering Robins had replaced Gavin Williams with Ivan Sproule in the 57th minute and were belatedly getting into the game, Lee Johnson's fierce free-kick forcing Maik Taylor to save.

The Northern Ireland keeper pulled off an even better stop to deny Sproule but must have been relieved to see Skuse wastefully lift over from 12 yards.

Trundle came on to replace defender Bradley Orr as the fight became more intense and the former Swansea striker handed the Robins a lifeline almost immediately.

Maik Taylor hashed a clearance that fell to Trundle, who steadied himself before lifting a spectacular 40-yard strike into a gaping net.

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JER HAVING A LAUGH Cameron Jerome celebrates Blues' second