Birmingham City manager Steve Bruce has sung the praises of both the home fans and the Blues board after experiencing an atmosphere more akin to his early days at St Andrew's.

The City directors might have come in for criticism for their pricing of Blues' next home match against Manchester United in 12 days' time when standard seats will cost more than £40 to see the reigning champions.

But Saturday's visit of Bolton Wanderers was a lot less attractive a proposition, managing director Karren Brady acted accordingly after two home league attendances were more than 5,000 below Blues' 30,000 capacity, seats were slashed to a cut-price £15 a head, and the home fans responded.

"It was St Andrew's again," said Bruce, after his team had been roared on by a crowd of more than 28,000, almost full. "It was like how Premier League games used to be here at St Andrew's.

"The board reduced the prices. And it is now obvious what the fans think of that.

"We charged £15, they came in their hordes and it makes a big difference to a place like this. When it is full, it is an intimidating place to play.

"It has been difficult for a couple of years, what with being relegated and trying to get back to the Premier League. But the board got it right, they reduced the prices and you've seen the response.

"We've been wondering if we could get St Andrew's back to what it was three or four years ago and Saturday was edging towards it. When you're up against it in the last five to ten minutes, the crowd play their part. They were fantastic for us and it was really pleasing to see and hear."

"It was nice to get a big crowd here," said striker Cameron Jerome. "To hear the crowd getting behind us gives us confidence.

"And to hear the reaction I got when I came off was obviously pleasing for me as I was just doing my job and it's nice for people to recognise your contribution, but the most important thing is that the manager does."

The other 'response' Bruce was looking for he got on the pitch following the shocking performance at Middlesbrough a fortnight ago.

He said: "You've got to remember that six or seven of them out there were 21 or 22 and haven't really played at this level. But the most important thing after the horror show of Middlesbrough was that we had a bit of a response and we deserved the victory.

"We were the better team from the start. And we could have made it a bit easier for ourselves had we taken one or two chances. But you can't fault their effort and endeavour."

"We've got to play that way at home," said Jerome. "Its high energy, get-at-them stuff and for a spell at the start and again in the second half I thought we'd run over them."

"Cameron worked exceptionally hard on his own up front," said Olivier Kapo, who played in his preferred role just behind and scored of the only goal.