Birmingham have kept pace with the Sky Bet Championship promotion pack after a 2-1 win over fellow Play-off contenders Queens Park Rangers at St Andrews. 

Ramsey is keen to keep hold of Rob Green
Chris Ramsey's QPR slumped to a fourth defeat of the season at Birmingham yesterday

A minute's applause was held at St Andrews before kick-off in memory of former Blues player Howard Kendall, who died yesterday morning at the age of 69. Kendall spent three years at Birmingham during the 1970s, and made more than 100 appearances for the Blues.

It was his former side who looked the more likely to open the scoring early on, as Demarai Gray's superb strike had former England international goalkeeper Robert Green scrambling, before producing an outstanding save to deny the youngster the opening goal of the game.

Yet it was QPR who took the lead when Nedum Onuoha lumped a ball forward which fell at the feet of Matt Phillips, whose deflected finish perplexed Tomasz Kuszczak in the Birmingham net, giving Rangers a 17th minute lead.

However, the Blues responded brilliantly and were back on level terms just seven minutes later.

Paul Robinson beat his marker to get a head on a pin-point Gray free kick to score his first goal in the league for 8 years, much to the surprise of the home crowd.

Clayton Donaldson then failed to put Birmingham in front as Gary Rowett's men seized the initiative, and his side eventually got their noses in front midway through the second half.

Donaldson was pulled down in the box by Onuoha, and Paul Caddis stepped up to give Birmingham the lead form the penalty spot.

The hosts held on for a sixth win of the season, their third in a row, which leaves them fourth in the league, level on points with second place Reading.

Defeat for QPR will do little to relieve the pressure on manager Chris Ramsey, as his side slipped to 12th and four points off of the top six.

Birmingham and QPR fans... what did you make of the game? Did Birmingham deserve the victory? Can the Blues maintain their promotion push? Were QPR deserving of a point? Is Ramsey the right man to lead you back to the Premier League? Let us know your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!