Birmingham City 1-0 Bolton Wanderers

Clayton Donaldson (right) has scored twice in his last three games

Clayton Donaldson's first-half goal gave Birmingham a 1-0 win over Bolton, who are still without an away victory in the Championship this season.

Donaldson tucked away a low cross from Diego Fabbrini at the near post to claim his seventh goal of the season.

Blues are now just three points away from a play-off position after a first win in four games.

Bolton, who avoided a winding-up order on Monday after agreeing a £7.5m takeover, remain second from bottom.

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Gary Rowett on Birmingham win over Bolton

Former Bolton striker Dean Holdsworth, who heads the consortium which is set to take control at the Macron Stadium, again watched from the stands.

And he saw another toothless performance from a side missing top scorer Gary Madine after he was left out by manager Neil Lennon for disciplinary reasons.

Birmingham did not carry much threat but broke the deadlock when Donaldson flicked the ball home after being set up by former Watford midfielder Fabbrini on his first start for Blues.

They almost added a late second when substitute David Cotterill was denied by Paul Rachubka on his first league start for Bolton.

Bolton have failed to win in 18 away games in the Championship, stretching back to last April

Bolton manager Neil Lennon:

"What we need to do is get the (transfer) embargo lifted and get some players in to bolster the squad. It's wafer thin at the moment.

"We do need a bit of strength in depth, it's something we've lacked for a while. It (the takeover) has not gone through yet so once it does we'll know what position we're in."

On his disciplinary action against Madine: "You have to set certain standards as a manager and I'm pretty fair with the players, but there are some things which you can't tolerate and you have to put a marker down and that's what I've done.

"It was at the weekend. I'm not going to go into it, it's been dealt with internally.

"It's up to Gary, the ball is in his court. He has to have a change in his thinking. There are things I will put up with and there are things I just can't, otherwise you'll have anarchy on your hands."

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Neil Lennon on Bolton's defeat by Birmingham

Birmingham manager Gary Rowett:

"You always felt this was a really pivotal game. It was just a case of winning the game.

"We're not a free-scoring team, we didn't use the ball well enough but the one bit of quality in the game we ended up scoring from.

"We're still very much in the mix, something that, after 32 games, everyone at the club everyone would have been really pleased with."

• Line-ups
• Match Stats
• Live Text

Line-ups

Birmingham

• 29Kuszczak
• 32Shotton
• 28Morrison
• 4Robinson
• 3Grounds
• 8Gleeson
• 6Kieftenbeld
• 30BuckleySubstituted forCotterillat 64'minutes
• 7FabbriniBooked at 55minsSubstituted forToralat 64'minutes
• 19Maghoma
• 9DonaldsonBooked at 90mins

Substitutes

• 1Legzdins
• 11Cotterill
• 15Vaughan
• 20Toral
• 23Spector
• 26Davis
• 31Caddis

Bolton

• 13Rachubka
• 15Derik
• 4DerviteSubstituted forDannsat 34'minutes
• 45Holding
• 3MoxeyBooked at 68mins
• 8SpearingSubstituted forWellingtonat 84'minutes
• 7Feeney
• 6VelaSubstituted forDobbieat 84'minutes
• 21Pratley
• 16DaviesBooked at 88mins
• 10Clough

Substitutes

• 18Danns
• 22Wellington
• 23Dobbie
• 25Wilson
• 30Woolery
• 42Walker
• 49Campbell

Referee:

Scott Duncan

Attendance:

15,992

Match Stats

Home TeamBirminghamAway TeamBolton

Possession

Home42%

Away58%

Shots

Home13

Away4

Shots on Target

Home5

Away1

Corners

Home6

Away3

Fouls

Home18

Away17

Live Text

Posted at

Match ends, Birmingham City 1, Bolton Wanderers 0.

Full Time

Posted at 90'+4'

Second Half ends, Birmingham City 1, Bolton Wanderers 0.

Posted at 90'+2'

Attempt missed. Clayton Donaldson (Birmingham City) right footed shot from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Jon-Miquel Toral with a through ball.

Booking

Posted at 90'+1'

Clayton Donaldson (Birmingham City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

Posted at 90'

Mark Davies (Bolton Wanderers) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

Posted at 90'

Foul by Clayton Donaldson (Birmingham City).

Posted at 90'

Offside, Birmingham City. Maikel Kieftenbeld tries a through ball, but Jon-Miquel Toral is caught offside.

Posted at 89'

Darren Pratley (Bolton Wanderers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 89'

Foul by Clayton Donaldson (Birmingham City).

Posted at 88'

Attempt blocked. David Cotterill (Birmingham City) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.

Booking

Posted at 88'

Mark Davies (Bolton Wanderers) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

Posted at 87'

Foul by Mark Davies (Bolton Wanderers).

Posted at 87'

Jon-Miquel Toral (Birmingham City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

Posted at 86'

Attempt missed. David Cotterill (Birmingham City) right footed shot from long range on the right is too high. Assisted by Stephen Gleeson.

Substitution

Posted at 84'

Substitution, Bolton Wanderers. Wellington replaces Jay Spearing.

Substitution

Posted at 84'

Substitution, Bolton Wanderers. Stephen Dobbie replaces Josh Vela.

Posted at 82'

Neil Danns (Bolton Wanderers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 82'

Foul by Stephen Gleeson (Birmingham City).

Posted at 82'

Attempt saved. Jon-Miquel Toral (Birmingham City) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Maikel Kieftenbeld.

Posted at 81'

Hand ball by Maikel Kieftenbeld (Birmingham City).

Posted at 76'

Liam Feeney (Bolton Wanderers) wins a free kick on the right wing.

Posted at 76'

Foul by Jonathan Grounds (Birmingham City).

Posted at 75'

Darren Pratley (Bolton Wanderers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 75'

Foul by Paul Robinson (Birmingham City).

Posted at 73'

Attempt saved. David Cotterill (Birmingham City) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Stephen Gleeson.

Posted at 72'

Foul by Darren Pratley (Bolton Wanderers).

Posted at 72'

Paul Robinson (Birmingham City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 69'

Zach Clough (Bolton Wanderers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 69'

Foul by Maikel Kieftenbeld (Birmingham City).

Booking

Posted at 68'

Dean Moxey (Bolton Wanderers) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

Posted at 68'

Foul by Dean Moxey (Bolton Wanderers).

Posted at 68'

David Cotterill (Birmingham City) wins a free kick on the right wing.

Posted at 67'

Mark Davies (Bolton Wanderers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 67'

Foul by Jonathan Grounds (Birmingham City).

Posted at 66'

Corner, Birmingham City. Conceded by Jay Spearing.

Posted at 66'

Attempt missed. Maikel Kieftenbeld (Birmingham City) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right.

Posted at 64'

Corner, Birmingham City. Conceded by Josh Vela.

Substitution

Posted at 64'

Substitution, Birmingham City. David Cotterill replaces William Buckley.

Substitution

Posted at 64'

Substitution, Birmingham City. Jon-Miquel Toral replaces Diego Fabbrini.

Posted at 63'

Foul by Rob Holding (Bolton Wanderers).

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