It was only a fortnight ago but already the Midlands derby win over West Bromwich Albion has passed into Birmingham City folklore. Sufficiently so, at least, for Steve Bruce, to start invoking memories of the day in an attempt to urge his team onto a similarly committed performance against Barnsley this afternoon.
It was, after all, the last time Birmingham played at home in the Championship and their manager could be forgiven for investing such significance into a result that might not — to outsiders at least — seem particularly noteworthy.
But it came at a time when Bruce was persona non grata in his own workplace, when his favour with the club’s supporters was at an all time low.
For him, the 2-0 victory and the manner in which it was achieved filled, and still fills, him with enormous pride.
He recalls how his team had been chasing shadows for much of the day, how his captain played the last few minutes with ‘his face smashed in’ but how they dogged out a clean-sheet and two beauties from Gary McSheffrey.
It went a big way to cutting the noose that had been hung round his neck by various people. No wonder he wants more of the same today when Andy Ritchie’s lowly Yorkshiremen visit St Andrew’s.
"The important thing is we get another performance like against West Brom," Bruce said yesterday. "The supporters, the owners, the directors and even me enjoyed seeing that performance.
"From that moment — when there were 1,000 seats sold on the Friday for the Coventry match — all of a sudden there is 6,000 going to Coventry because of the performance against West Brom. We must have a repeat of that."
He will hope the chances are high. While Bruce involved most of his orchestra in the midweek Carling Cup exit to Liverpool, he noticeably kept his soloists back.
McSheffrey, Nicklas Bendtner, Stephen Clemence and Fabrice Muamba all played little or no part on Wednesday night and will therefore approach their necessities without having been sapped by the niceties.
And that’s the only way Birmingham’s league position can be viewed. Their Championship renaissance is gathering speed — they have won their last four without conceding a goal — and has taken them to within three points of top spot.
Consecutive matches on their own turf represent not just an opportunity to haul in leaders Cardiff City, who are at home to third-placed Burnley this weekend, but to overtake them too.
Bruce must consider whether his defence has the legs to manage a second game inside four days. He has always maintained it is the one area of his team where consistency of selection is vital and is likely to want to retain the quartet of Stephen Kelly, Radhi Jaidi, the rejuvenated Martin Taylor and Mat Sadler. Muamba, Clemence and McSheffrey are all likely to return in midfield.
One player who certainly won’t be available is striker Mikael Forssell who has undergone surgery on a knee injury and will miss three months' action while Matthew Upson will play in Wednesday’s reserve team game at Leeds United before being asked to step up.
And what Bruce does with Mehdi Nafti will be intriguing. The Tunisian petulantly kicked an advertising hoarding after being taken off against Liverpool and earned himself an appointment in the manager’s office for his sins.
Bruce spoke to the midfielder yesterday but was keen to defuse any falling out. The 27-year-old was, apparently, just venting the pent-up frustrations of the last few months.
"His frustration was there for everybody to see," Bruce explained. "It’s alright just getting yourself back on the pitch but getting back to the way you were before an injury, especially a serious one, is the most difficult thing.
"He has done fantastically well to even get back on to the pitch. He wants to play every minute of every game and he is just frustrated.
"We had a conversation this morning but there’s nothing further. I would rather he wants to play, he’s disappointed, he wants to stay on the pitch.
"However, he understands in the heat of the moment he was out of order. He’s apologised. Let’s get on with it."
