Matchwinner Ibrahim Osman had a night of mixed emotions as Birmingham climbed into the top 10 with a 2-1 win over Preston at St. Andrew’s.
On-loan Brighton winger Osman made the first goal for Jay Stansfield and scored the second himself before going off injured, all before half-time.
Andrew Hughes halved the deficit for Preston on 25 minutes, who created several chances in the second half, while Carlos Vicente hit the post for Blues.
Birmingham broke the deadlock in the 10th minute with a poacher’s goal from Stansfield.
The striker diverted Osman’s goalbound shot past goalkeeper Daniel Iversen from three yards out.
Stansfield’s 10th Championship strike of the season ended a 13-match drought in all competitions.
Osman did the hard work, intercepting Pol Valentin’s pass before beating the right back on the byline and firing in a low, angled shot.
The winger made it 2-0 six minutes later, curling in a low effort from a similar position after cutting inside Jordan Thompson and leaving Liam Lindsay grounded.
Seizing on Iversen’s punch from Paik Seung-Ho’s corner, Osman left the goalkeeper rooted to the spot with his shot.
Hughes then chested home to halve the deficit after Alfie Devine’s goalbound corner was touched on by goalkeeper James Beadle. It was the midfielder’s first goal of the season.
Osman was forced off in the 36th minute to be replaced by Demarai Gray after an earlier clash of heads.
Lewis Dobbin again went close when his dipping effort from long range just cleared the crossbar.
Stansfield forced Iversen into a diving block from distance as Blues looked for a third goal.
Preston began the second half the better side and Phil Neumann’s poor pass intercepted by Devine as the the visitors were gifted a chance. The North End midfielder’s heavy touch allowed the defender to block.
Milutin Osmajic’s glancing header from Andrija Vukcevic’s cross was straight at Beadle, before Brad Potts skied over at the far post.
Beadle denied Devine after Dobbin slotted him in as Preston continued to look lively.
After weathering the storm, Blues’ first opportunity of the second half came on 75 minutes when Vicente’s low drive hit the post.
August Priske was denied a third Blues goal when Iversen blocked his effort after Vicente squared.
The managers
Birmingham’s Chris Davies:
“The best place for [Osman next season] is somewhere where he is loved and will get minutes.
“I would love him to come back but there are a lot of moving parts.
“He is built for that (Premier League) level. The one thing you need is that physicality and he has that speed and power.
“He has that unpredictability in the way he moves his body which is difficult to stop, and when you combine that with the finish he has, then you are looking at a very special player.
“He’s a really special talent and I’m really pleased he’s added icing on the cake.”
Preston’s Paul Heckingbottom:
“There were a couple of big frustrations – the goals we conceded and the fact we couldn’t take one of the opportunities to take something from the game.
“That 10 minutes really knocked us but we regrouped and scored the next goal and got better and better, particularly in the second half.
“We have played worse than that away from home and won this season.
“We showed good desire attacking balls in the box but maybe we needed to show more guile to get in front of defenders.
“But we certainly had bodies in the box with intent and the pleasing thing was we created from good play and set-pieces.”
