Birmingham City recorded successive victories for the first time this season after a 2-1 win at Preston yesterday.

After a tough start, Aitor Karanka's men have pushed into the top half of the table and they will be looking up as they try and push for a top six place.

Scoring goals has been the problem for much of the campaign but Blues didn't take long to get on the scoresheet at Deepdale, with new signing Riley McGree scoring the opener with a crisp finish.

The Australian looks as though he will be an asset for Karanka this season and the Spaniard explained to Birmingham Live how impressed he has been with the attacking midfielder.

"I am really pleased with him because I think he is the image of the work in the training ground. I don’t know exactly when he arrived but he has settled in really well, the other players have taken to him really well because everybody could see how good he is.

"We have a very good relationship with Charlotte, we were speaking about our players and when we were speaking about Riley I didn’t have any doubt he was the type of player who was going to help us a lot."

The verdict

This was a very surprising signing at the time because McGree has only really played in the Australian A-League and Blues have quite a few attacking midfielders.

However, he is clearly a player with quality on the ball and he made a big difference against North End, including the goal.

Karanka is a fan of the 21-year-old and it's now down to McGree to maintain the high standards from yesterday to ensure he keeps his place in the XI.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.