Birmingham City 1-1 Bristol City: Blues end home season on a high

While Hodgson’s first stint at Ashton Gate back in 1982 was, by his own admission, “nothing short of a disaster”, the former England boss has steadied the ship since replacing Gerhard Struber in March on a deal until the end of the season.

Had they beaten the Blues, it would have been the first time in 24 years the Robins recorded a league double over their fellow mid-table side – they beat Birmingham 1-0 in October – but Neumann quickly put that possibility to rest.

The German centre-half opened the scoring, meeting Demarai Gray’s right-wing free-kick with a well-taken volley for his third goal in Birmingham colours.

Gray was influential throughout and struck the post from distance in the middle of the first half with an impressive 25-yard free-kick.

That came shortly before Solis capitalised on a defensive error, as the visitors were making an effort to play out from the back, to fire in his first goal since arriving on loan from Girona in January.

The Blues nearly stretched their advantage after the break when August Priske saw his dinked effort over Bristol City goalkeeper Radek Vitek rebound off the post.

But the visitors were handed a route back into the game late on when Horvat converted from the spot after being fouled by Jay Stansfield as he tracked back to help his defence.

However, Birmingham managed the closing stages to extend their recent unbeaten run to four games while Bristol City’s winless streak extended to four.