Birmingham City manager Gary Rowett has praised the first-half performance of his "immense" players after the Blues beat Hull City in tonight's Championship match at St Andrew's.

High-flying Hull had not conceded in 463 minutes going into the match and would have returned to the top of the table if they had avoided defeat, but the Tigers failed to break Birmingham down and Jon Toral's deflected first-half strike proved the winner.

Rowett's side sat back and survived Hull's pressure in the second half, but they created several chances in an end-to-end opening period.

Reflecting on the result, Rowett told Sky Sports News: "I think it's as good as when we won 3-0 away at Derby. Hull are probably the most complete team in the division, not only can they move the ball but they've got great athleticism.

"We've had to ride our luck a little bit with a couple of their chances but we created loads in the first half. We were immense in the first half, moved the ball brilliantly.

"Jon Toral and Clayton Donaldson were really good together, they were a constant thorn in the side of Hull."

Victory for Birmingham moved them up to seventh and within a point of the playoff places.