Nigel Pearson said his side are now in a position to deal with physical teams after a change in formation produced helped City to a 4-2 victory in a six-goal thriller at Ashton Gate.
The City manager has questioned that aspect of his side in the past, including at the fan's forum in October, just a couple of weeks after a 3-0 defeat in the reverse fixture when the Robins conceded three set-pieces.
For the first time in the Championship this season, the manager started a 4-3-3 with the ambition of playing on the front foot. Kal Naismith sat in front of the defence while Mark Sykes occupied a favoured wide right role.
His selection was rewarded with the Republic of Ireland international grabbing his first and second goals in a City shirt in the second half to put the game beyond Birmingham's reach. Pearson described the match as one they needed to win and their positive start was rewarded through Antoine Semenyo's third in three games after 17 minutes.
Cam Pring, who bounced back from conceding the penalty with a terrific showing, put it on a plate for the Ghanaian before Nahki Wells doubled City's advantage just four minutes later.
Birmingham dragged themselves back into the contest when Troy Deeney converted from a spot after Pring brought down Tahith Chong before the half-time whistle. Sykes then settled any nerves at the beginning of the second half before Reda Khadra, a former transfer target of Pearson's, handed the visitors a consolation.
Speaking after the game, Pearson said: "The most important thing now is that we utilise our strengths and that is we can compete with the best sides in the league physically. Whether we can do that technically is another thing but that doesn't matter.
"We are a good counterattacking side, were a good side when we play with a fast tempo, and we need to try and do that every time we play.
“We wanted to be positive and on the front foot. That’s a cliché that everybody uses but we are not the best side in the world when we try and soak pressure up. We’re not that type of a side, we have to utilise what one of our biggest strengths is and that is our ability to run.
"We've worked really hard to change the profile of this team from a side that can't run, and that’s what it was when I arrived here, the fitness stats were woeful.
"I'm pleased, I'm pleased for the players. I thought the atmosphere was good at the ground today, the punters were good. We needed to win, it's as simple as that. The performance was important today but the result is the most important thing."
Pearson praised Sykes' impact after getting off the mark for his new club, but set him the challenge of getting into goalscoring positions consistently even when he's utilised as a right wing-back.
He added: "He should be there when he plays as a right wing-back but it gives him more freedom to stay up there. I thought he did it really well - he's played well all season for us on the right-hand side.
"(He) Just had to be a little bit further forward today and it means that when the ball is on the left side he can be where he was to score the two goals but he should be there when he plays at wing-back as well.
"He's had some chances. Look he's a player who’s got goals in him, he's a really good player, I like him. He's a player that’s making a step up from League One, we thought he’d be able to make the step up and he's done it well.
"He's played out of position, if people want to call it out of position, I don’t. He's an intelligent player in loads of different positions. He can play as a wingback, he can play in the No10 position.
"He can play as a No8, he can play where he did today as a wide striker. He's bright enough and he's got the physical attributes. He's become a lot stronger since he's been here, he's not as slight. He was quite a slight player at Oxford, he's really filled out quite a bit and he's a decent footballer. Good for him."
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