Four details we learned from Birmingham City 1-0 Preston as Gary Rowett effect shines through

Birmingham City gave their supporters the happiest of Easters with a richly deserved victory over promotion-chasing Preston North End, ending a crippling winless streak dating back to mid-February.

It was also the warmest of returns to St Andrew’s for Gary Rowett in the second game of his second stint in charge, with his messages already starting to sink in despite the limited time he’s spent with his players thanks to the congested schedule.

The result allowed Birmingham to vault Plymouth Argyle and put some breathing space between them and the relegation zone, but something even more pleasing than the updated table was the controlled manner in which they dismantled one of the Championship’s form sides.

Rowett now has four days to prepare his men for an even tougher test in the form of Leicester City away on Saturday, but in the meantime here’s what we picked out as the talking points from the Preston win.

Built on the basics

With just two days to pick his squad up from that heartbreaking defeat to QPR, Rowett focussed on the importance of Blues: intensity in defence, dominating the air at set-pieces and remaining solid after scoring.

Safe to say, that message hit home. Dion Sanderson’s crunching tackle on Will Keane to halt Preston’s first attack set the tone for a blizzard of Blues pressure that prevented Preston from building any sustained pressure.

The Lilywhites enjoyed 82% pass accuracy in their commanding 3-0 Good Friday win over Rotherham but Birmingham’s tenacious pressing saw that number plummet to 61% in the first half as Jay Stansfield and Krystian Bielik were particularly outstanding.

The Pole’s eyes must’ve lit up when he saw the stopgap nature of Preston’s midfield - including a full bow for Noah Mawene - and he made the debutant’s life an absolute misery while Seung-Ho Paik took full advantage of the added space.

Meanwhile Stansfield’s relentless running out of possession created multiple first-half chances and if any player deserved to score it was him. Post-game he agreed there had been a definite shift in Birmingham’s mentality from the QPR game, and it showed on the pitch.

And those were just the two highlights, this section could've just as easily been led by Juninho Bacuna torturing Duane Holmes for 90 minutes or Emmanuel Aiwu pocketing the red-hot Emil Riis.

Take your chances

‘Pressure is an opportunity’ was another part of Rowett’s message at Loftus Road, and Birmingham responded by showing the calmest heads at both ends of the pitch. For all the home dominance in the first half, if both sides had taken their chances Preston entered the break 2-1 up.

Lee Buchanan’s last-ditch tackle was a match-saving example of precision under pressure after Robbie Brady - Preston’s best player on the day - had seemingly created a certain score.

But after putting in so many hard yards, Stansfield was the finest model of composure as he netted the matchwinner. Those chances look easy but it’s even easier to overcomplicate things when you’ve got 40 yards to think about it - as the Fulham loanee admitted afterward.

As it was, Stansfield judged it perfectly, taking just the right amount of time to set himself before burying his shot past Freddie Woodman and ensuring Birmingham’s superiority was fully rewarded.

Rowett has risen

Blues fans won’t need reminding this was their first victory in nearly 50 days - but Rowett’s vigil had lasted almost four times as long, since his Millwall side beat Plymouth in early October for his last win in charge at the Den.

Given both streaks, his response at full-time was remarkably muted. There was a moment’s celebration at the final whistle and he did congratulate his players on the pitch but was one of the first from Birmingham to exit down the tunnel, striding briskly off while acknowledging the support of the fans.

For Rowett, the job is far from done with Blues just two points above the drop zone and a trip to 22nd-placed Huddersfield Town still to come and that might explain his aversion to drawing out the post-game celebrations.

But deep down, the unequivocal fan response on his return to St Andrew's must’ve pleased him. Nearly 24,000 Blues produced a febrile home atmosphere Preston wilted under, and they made their support for the boss clear as the first Rowett chants broke out within two minutes of kick-off.

Preston looked the relegation-threatened side while Birmingham played like a team gunning for the play-offs. Blues seemed to win every second ball - including the one that led to Stansfield’s winner - and the crowd could barely have roared their approval any louder.

Birmingham have far from the easiest run-in at home with Cardiff and Coventry visiting before Norwich come to town on the final day of the season, but if those sides didn’t sit up and take note of this performance on the pitch, in the dugout and on the terraces then more fool them.

What a game for Bacuna

Bacuna’s been a frustrating figure at times this season and prefers to play deeper in midfield, but won’t be moved back any time soon if he keeps putting in performances like that.

It wasn’t difficult to decipher Rowett’s post-game comments on Bacuna post-game. He talked up his number seven's abilities to take on defenders as the Curacaoan switched wings from Loftus Road to target the diminutive Duane Holmes on the left flank, with that move paying off handsomely.

Preston are pretty strapped for availability in central midfield and at wing-back and that crisis only got worse when Alan Browne was ruled out with sickness pre-game. While Holmes has been a deadly attacking midfielder in his first season in Lancashire the American is a makeshift wing-back at best.

And that reality was cruelly exposed by Bacuna, who comprehensively won his battle with and without possession. Too often he was just able to outmuscle Holmes and also edged the American for speed too (not many Championship players that can say that), which helped build the platform for Birmingham’s early stranglehold on possession that Preston could never truly break.

Bacuna, Stansfield and Koji Miyoshi is a brilliantly balanced frontline that will give Birmingham the chance to win in every single game they can replicate this form.