Goals in each half from Liam Ridgewell and Nikola Zigic gave Birmingham a 2-0 victory over Premier League surprise package Blackpool on Saturday.
All three of Blackpool's victories this season have been away from home but it was well beaten at St. Andrew's as Birmingham recorded only a second league win, and first since August.
Ridgewell opened the scoring in the 36th minute, heading home after Zigic hit the crossbar following a corner.
Zigic scored his second in as many matches to make the game safe in the 56th, capitalizing on a mistake by Blackpool's Charlie Adam.
The result moved Alex McLeish's side up to 12th with 10 points, above 14th-placed Blackpool on goal difference alone.
McLeish praised the contribution of Serbia international Zigic, who arrived over the summer from Spanish side Valencia.
''Goals give strikers confidence and this will have been another big boost for the big fellow,'' McLeish said. ''He has taken time to adjust to the English style of play but we are now starting to see some sharpness from everyone in the front areas - including Nikola.
Birmingham started with an attacking lineup that featured Alexander Hleb behind two forwards in Zigic and Garry O'Connor and McLeish was rewarded by seeing his side score its first home goals since the 2-1 win over Blackburn on Aug. 21.
''We played with a different system, a diamond, and we tried to give Blackpool problems from the start and it worked for us,'' he added.
''At home you have got to take some risks although I'm not saying we will play that formation every week.''
Blackpool, whose attacking football has brought the promoted club surprise wins at Anfield and St. James' Park, was unable to match its opponents, conceded manager Ian Holloway.
''We were beaten by the better team and the manager beat me with his tactics,'' Holloway said. ''They passed the ball superbly well and I did not expect them to play a diamond in midfield. I felt I let the lads down a bit.
''But I shall also have a go at our scouting set-up because no one told me they would play with a diamond. It's a fair result ... We created chances but the better team beat us.''
The opener arrived from a Sebastian Larsson corner, which Ridgwell headed back across goal toward Zigic. The striker's effort came back off the bar but Ridgewell was on hand to turn the ball in.
The pair combined again early in the second half to make it 2-0 but it needed an error from Adam - one of Blackpool's standout performers this season - to give Zigic the opportunity.
Following another Larsson corner, Ridgewell kept the ball in play and Adam attempted to bring it under control inside the six-yard box, rather than clear. He only succeeded in playing the ball to Zigic, however, who smashed a shot into the roof of the net.
