Birmingham World reporter Charlie Haffenden's post-match reaction as West Bromwich Albion beat Birmingham City 1-0 at The Hawthorns.
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00:00 West Bromwich Albion have beaten Birmingham City at the Hawthorns and
00:04 they've got the bragging rights for the next few months. It's a 1-0 win, very
00:08 narrow and I thought to be honest it was going to go 0-0 here. I thought it was quite a
00:12 cagey affair, neither side really created too many clear-cut chances but West
00:17 Brom did win it at the death. Andy Vyman had a winter signing, getting across
00:21 Christian Bielik at the near post to convert from a Darnell Furlong cross.
00:24 Bielik really should have done better there, shouldn't have given Vyman the
00:27 opportunity to get across him. I'm not sure if he even saw him, whereas Ethan
00:30 Laird should have done better with his positioning. He allowed Furlong so much
00:34 space to put the ball into the area and that was the key moment in the game and
00:37 that's what earned the Vaggies a crucial three points in their playoff fight.
00:40 Birmingham meanwhile, they're now just four points above the relegation zone.
00:44 They've actually moved up a position from 20th to 19th because Stoke City were
00:48 thrashed by Leicester City I believe 5-0 in the end but it's a very
00:52 disappointing result that drags them into trouble even more so now in the
00:56 relegation fight. I don't think they'll be relegated, they've definitely got
00:59 enough in the squad. Tony Mowbray is a fantastic manager, he's not exactly
01:03 going to fill them with confidence. Mowbray was keen to get some wins pretty
01:07 quickly and he has got a couple but it's not enough to get Blues propelling up
01:12 the table. All it takes is two, three, maybe four wins in five or six games and
01:16 you can get into the top half. Birmingham aren't really showing that clinical
01:20 edge at the moment that gives anyone the belief that they'll do just that. As it
01:24 is though, it is a 1-0 win for West Bromwich Albion who were getting a lot of
01:28 confidence from this one to push on in their playoff fight and Ipswich Town have
01:32 lost as well so could they even catch them? We'll have to wait and see.