Rotherham's victory in the early kick-off meant Bristol City started the game in 20th spot and worryingly close to the drop zone.
Fast forward 90 minutes and the Championship table makes for much more pleasant reading. A much-needed win for Nigel Pearson, four goals and a welcome switch in formation means the Robins are up to 17th and six points clear of the bottom three.
It's certainly not worth shouting about from the rooftops but Saturday certainly felt like a turning point of sorts. Birmingham started the first 10 minutes brightly but City soon stamped their authority on the contest and the visitors couldn't deal with them going forward.
Antoine Semenyo and Nahki Wells pounced in the first half to get City on their way before a rare mistake by Pring allowed Troy Deeney to pull one back from the spot. The fourth goal felt vital in the contest and when Mark Sykes grabbed his first for City early in the second half, Ashton Gate could breathe a sigh of relief.
City then scored four for the first time in the league this season when Sykes was in the right place at the right time to grab his second of the game before an ironic Reda Khadra goal gave Birmingham a glimmer of hope.
Here's the verdict as City managed to get themselves back to winning ways with a more than deserved showing.
Cam Pring's on fire
Mark Sykes may take the headlines for scoring his first goals in a Bristol City shirt but once again, Cam Pring earned the standout performance as he continues to find consistency and confidence in his game.
As mentioned numerous times previously, he has all the attributes to become a top left-sided wide player. While we saw his strength, pace and directness for his pair of assists, we also saw a different side of his game.
That was his mentality to come back from his unfortunate error to concede a first-half penalty to turn in a performance that epitomised what City were all about yesterday. As Birmingham broke on the counter through the dangerous Juninho Bacuna, Pring was left with a one-on-one situation alongside Tahith Chong.
The midfielder, who could go on to play in the Premier League, showed Pring one way before cutting back onto his right foot which fooled the City defender. After all the talk of the lack of penalties in the build-up, it was ironic that it was the opponents who had the opportunity from the spot.
That will be a learning curve for him and at the age of 24, he's still developing at this level. Not only did he refuse to let his head drop following his error, but he also used it as an extra source of motivation to put in such a dominant display.
Granted his assist for Semenyo came before the incident but Birmingham could not deal with those marauding runs down the left flank. Even in a full-back position, he used every opportunity to test the Blues backline and was duly rewarded.
His assist for Sykes' opener was nothing short of superb. He rode the challenge of three players, danced into the area and pulled it back across the goal to give his team-mate the easiest of finishes. It was almost Gareth Bale-esque the way he breezed past his opponents.
Only Kal Naismith has more touches (88) than Pring (86) in the game proving how much of an influence he had on the result. He's also showing a versatility to play at wing-back, left-back while even dropping into left midfield towards the end of the contest.
Nigel Pearson wins back support
While results have often been inconsistent this season, there remains one thing that has remained in tune and that is the fact Nigel Pearson always seems to pull off a result when he needs it the most.
Looking at the fixture list a week a couple of weeks ago, this stood out as an important game. One because the manager needed three points from whoever City were up against, two because City hadn't won at home in the league since October 12 and three because they were playing a side who were just two places above them in the table.
The atmosphere following that Boxing Day defeat to West Brom when sections of the crowd were making their feelings well and truly known towards Pearson in comparison to yesterday, less than three weeks later was like chalk and cheese. Ashton Gate was rocking yesterday met by a roar of approval when the final whistle went following seven minutes of added time.
Coming off the back of that defeat against the Baggies to pick up two points at Millwall and Coventry before winning today has certainly changed opinions over the New Year.
That's not saying he's safe as houses, it will mean little if they can't back it up against Blackburn at Ashton Gate next weekend and everyone knows how quickly things can change in the football environment. There's two ways of looking at it - City have won four in their last 21 matches in all competitions or they have now lost just two out of their last eight league matches.
A victory next weekend and there's a real chance City will be closer to the play-offs than the bottom three which shows just how ridiculous the Championship can be at times.
It wasn't just the performance and result that earned him some credit in the eyes of City supporters, it was his decision to switch up the tactics and play on the front foot with a back four...
A new-look City?
That brings us to the formation and the decision to stick with a back four following the second-half performance against Swansea in the FA Cup. Have to admit, when the team news was announced I thought it was the usual formation with Sykes playing in Andi Weimann's No10 role.
Therefore it was a pleasant surprise when the game kicked off to see Kal Naismith playing in front of the defence and Sykes in his favoured right-wing role for the first time this season. What a difference it made.
It took 10 minutes for City to get to grips with the formation as Bacuna found pockets of space to run at the defence. He was certainly their brightest spark but as Fevs Football Analytics mentioned in his analysis online, James dropped alongside Naismith to sure up the space which then allowed Alex Scott to push forward.
That allowed City to play on the front foot with Semenyo and Sykes in the wider forward positions preventing their full-backs from pressing up the field. Using their pace, they could exploit that space down the sides of the defence and flood the box with numbers to get on the end of crosses.
Pearson has previously said that while he prefers a back four, he hasn't favoured it because it doesn't suit the group of players at his disposal. Judging by that performance, they looked a lot more comfortable and confident especially going forward.
Sykes' performance was certainly an intriguing one given his position on the pitch. He looked a lot more comfortable finding those pockets of space, had the bit between his teeth to drive forward, particularly in the first 30 minutes of the game. Most importantly, knew where to stand to get into those goalscoring positions.
There were still question marks at the back - Rob Atkinson struggled for pace when caught in a one-on-one situation and George Tanner wasn't offered the protection by Sykes at times but those teething problems are likely to occur.
City played with energy, battled for the second balls and as John Eustace simply put it after the game - City just wanted it more on the day. Of course, the tactics are likely to change depending on the opponent and better sides will hurt them on the counter-attack but it was clear evidence that the manager and players can more experimental and expressive when needed.
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