Birmingham City 2 - 1 Blackburn Rovers: Five wins in a row for Birmingham

Published on Tuesday 15 December 2009 23:36

CAMERON Jerome helped Birmingham rewrite their record books as his two goals against Blackburn lifted Alex McLeish's side into the top six of the Barclays Premier League.

Blues registered a fifth successive Premier League win for the first time and it is 36 years since they achieved the feat in the top flight during the days of Trevor Francis and Bob Latchford.

Jerome struck after 12 minutes and three minutes into the second half – his 50th career league goal – and Rovers could only manage a solitary reply from skipper Ryan Nelsen. City are now unbeaten in eight matches from which they have collected 20 points and are making a mockery of the pre-season predictions that they would make an instant return to the Coca-Cola Championship.

They controlled this match for long periods with Jerome finally getting some tangible reward for his hard-working performances after previously only netting once this season. Barry Ferguson also impressed in central midfield against his former club and James McFadden on the left flank while Roger Johnson was again a solid defensive rock.

Rovers had the consolation of scoring their first goal for 445 minutes, but, until the closing stages, they were second best and have now conceded 23 goals on their travels.

A delighted McLeish said: "I'm proud of the players and I think the fans should be proud of them as well. They have shown a fantastic appetite and attitude since day one in the Premier League. They have also shown they can rise to the challenge when the expectation levels go up.

"With each game we have won, people are expecting more and mention things like Europe, but we are keeping our feet on the ground. The Premier League is our main concern and we have given ourselves a very good chance to stay in the strongest league in the world. I never set any targets at the start of the season except trying to finish in the top 17."

Birmingham: Hart, Carr, Roger Johnson, Dann, Ridgewell, Larsson, Ferguson, Bowyer, McFadden (Fahey 82), Jerome, Benitez. Subs not used: Maik Taylor, Vignal, McSheffrey, O'Shea, Carsley, Phillips. Booked: Jerome, Ferguson.

Blackburn: Robinson, Chimbonda, Samba, Nelsen, Givet, Diouf (Hoilett 53), Emerton (Andrews 22), Nzonzi, Pedersen, Roberts (McCarthy 71), Kalinic. Subs not used: Brown, Salgado, Jacobsen, Di Santo. Booked: Nzonzi, Nelsen.

Attendance: 23,187.

Referee: M Jones (Cheshire).