Jiri Jarosik's superb first half strike gave Birmingham a 1-0 win over Bolton at St Andrews, a result which lifted Blues out of the relegation zone.
Steve Bruce's side have been under the cosh of late and even a superb display in holding champions Chelsea to a draw did not really help their fight to avoid the drop.
On-loan Chelsea man Jarosik's seventh goal of the season did breath life into their relegation battle though, as the three points saw them move out of the bottom three for the first time since October 16.
Birmingham's plans suffered a big early blow when Stephen Clemence had to go off after just seven minutes due to what looked like a hamstring injury.
Kevin Davies and Stelios Giannakopoulos could have made matters even worse for the home side had they managed to convert the good headed chances they had moments later.
Nicky Butt then had to go off injured as Bruce's gamble on the former Manchester United man's fitness backfired after just half an hour.
Substitute Mikael Forsell had a sight at goal a minute later after fellow replacement Stan Lazaridis had won the ball, but the Finn blazed over from 20 yards out.
Jarosik then lit up a St Andrews crowd that was desperate for something to shout about, when he put them ahead on 37 minutes with a super strike.
The Czech Republic man took the ball past Jay Jay Okocha with some neat footwork before firing a sweet left-footed strike that flew past Jussi Jaakelainen.
Blues were visibly lifted by the goal and Jarosik could have doubled the lead just a couple of minutes later when he bundles his way into the box only to fire his left-footed effort wide of the near post on the stretch.
Kevin Nolan almost equalised for the visitors on the stroke of half time when he tried a curler from the edge of the box, but Maik Taylor was equal to it and palmed the ball away.
Birmingham carried on attacking in the second half, and Jaaskelainen had to back-peddle quickly to tip Damien Johnson's miss-hit cross over the bar.
Nerves started to creep into Birmingham's play entering the final 15 minutes, and Stelios wasted a good chance for Bolton as he poked an effort wide after Davies had flicked on Okocha's free kick.
Blues managed to settle the game down and they comfortably played out time until the final whistle, which was greeted with a rapturous reception from a relieved home crowd as Birmingham moved out of the drop zone.
Steve Bruce's side have been under the cosh of late and even a superb display in holding champions Chelsea to a draw did not really help their fight to avoid the drop.
On-loan Chelsea man Jarosik's seventh goal of the season did breath life into their relegation battle though, as the three points saw them move out of the bottom three for the first time since October 16.
Birmingham's plans suffered a big early blow when Stephen Clemence had to go off after just seven minutes due to what looked like a hamstring injury.
Kevin Davies and Stelios Giannakopoulos could have made matters even worse for the home side had they managed to convert the good headed chances they had moments later.
Nicky Butt then had to go off injured as Bruce's gamble on the former Manchester United man's fitness backfired after just half an hour.
Substitute Mikael Forsell had a sight at goal a minute later after fellow replacement Stan Lazaridis had won the ball, but the Finn blazed over from 20 yards out.
Jarosik then lit up a St Andrews crowd that was desperate for something to shout about, when he put them ahead on 37 minutes with a super strike.
The Czech Republic man took the ball past Jay Jay Okocha with some neat footwork before firing a sweet left-footed strike that flew past Jussi Jaakelainen.
Blues were visibly lifted by the goal and Jarosik could have doubled the lead just a couple of minutes later when he bundles his way into the box only to fire his left-footed effort wide of the near post on the stretch.
Kevin Nolan almost equalised for the visitors on the stroke of half time when he tried a curler from the edge of the box, but Maik Taylor was equal to it and palmed the ball away.
Birmingham carried on attacking in the second half, and Jaaskelainen had to back-peddle quickly to tip Damien Johnson's miss-hit cross over the bar.
Nerves started to creep into Birmingham's play entering the final 15 minutes, and Stelios wasted a good chance for Bolton as he poked an effort wide after Davies had flicked on Okocha's free kick.
Blues managed to settle the game down and they comfortably played out time until the final whistle, which was greeted with a rapturous reception from a relieved home crowd as Birmingham moved out of the drop zone.
