Birmingham boss Chris Davies described his side’s 2-1 comeback victory at Barnsley as a “massive win” after Jay Stansfield netted a brace at Oakwell.
Barnsley went in front through Paik Seung-Ho’s own goal in the 58th minute, but Stansfield picked out the top corner to equalise within two minutes.
Blues’ top goalscorer then headed Paik’s corner past Ben Killip with 11 minutes to go to spark jubilant celebrations for Birmingham’s 5,000 travelling fans.
Davies said: “I said to the players in the dressing room after the game that that’s the kind of victory that you’ll remember for a long time.
“Sometimes when you have it all your own way in a game, you can forget about those games pretty quickly, but when you have to dig deep inside yourself and come up with solutions and answers, you’ll remember them.
“I knew coming up here would be hard enough, and you don’t need a storm to add to that as well, with the swirling wind and really long balls, long throw-ins and bouncing balls.
“Although it wasn’t pretty in the first half, we were there and we were competing, and I knew the game would open up as it went on.”
Barnsley manager Darrell Clarke was left to reflect on a “frustrating” afternoon for the Tykes.
He said: “Up until the 58th minute, or when they got their equaliser, a lot of the things we were doing we were doing well.
“We were on the front foot for the majority of the game and limited a team that can open you up to not really a chance.
“We score a goal, then after that it’s not acceptable to go into a 1-0 lead and celebrate. You want your players to enjoy a goal but then I want a reset.
“For the ball to be in the back of our net 30 seconds later isn’t good enough. They are the fine lines. I want to be a winner and us to be consistently winning. We have to be better at that.
“And then to give the second goal away from a set-piece with players not doing their jobs isn’t acceptable.
“It’s certainly not a hard-luck story from me, and I said the same to the players after the game, to be a proper winner, not a nearly-man.”
