Birmingham City hauled themselves out of the relegation zone with a fine 2-1 victory over Bolton Wanderers.
Blues made a blistering start as Sebastian Larsson’s corner fell to Kevin Phillips and he unleashed a smart volley to give the hosts a fourth minute lead.
Craig Gardner fired wide as Birmingham nearly grabbed a second, and at the other end Wanderers almost snatched an equaliser on the stroke of half time but Ben Foster made a fine diving save to tip Daniel Sturridge’s half-volley around the post.
Blues thought they had doubled their advantage moments after the restart when Larsson produced a cool finish after Jussi Jaaskelainen saved well from Phillips, but the Swede was flagged for offside.
Jaaskelainen was in fine form for Bolton and kept his side in it with a smart stop to keep out Roger Johnson’s volley, but he could do nothing about Birmingham’s second on the hour mark when Gardner fired in off the post after exchanging passes with Cameron Jerome.
Bolton gave themselves hope when Johan Elmander volleyed home his first goal since Boxing Day, but Blues goalkeeper Foster ensured they would not rescue a point with two fine saves to deny Kevin Davies and Gretar Steinsson.