'Terrorised' - Onel Hernandez hands out another lesson but Birmingham City are held by Swansea City

Birmingham City’s passion and panache returned in south Wales – even if the scoreboard remained resolutely unmoved. This was as heavy a 0-0 defeat as Blues have inflicted for many a year.

The flaccid going-through-of-motions that so irritated Lee Bowyer on Tuesday night, was replaced by tempo and energy as the head coach changed half his team and was rewarded with everything apart from the victory his side deserved.

Swansea City dominated the ball, harvesting possession by two thirds to Blues’ one, yet there was only one side who came close to scoring and it wasn’t dressed in white. Russell Martin’s men passed, sideways, backwards, sideways, slowed the game down and played more incisive balls in their defensive third than the attacking.

Blues by contrast, sat and waited like a coiled spring before their press exploded into life, led by the willing Scott Hogan who embodied the maxim ‘defence begins from the front’. The striker, recently restored to the Republic of Ireland squad despite starting only six matches this year, gave goalkeeper Andy Fisher no peace at all.

Alongside him Tahith Chong gave his best performance since returning from injury and behind them for the second away game in succession Onel Hernandez so terrorised an opponent they were taken off at half time.

Just as Bristol City’s Sam Bell was taken out of the firing line on March 5, so too Finley Burns was replaced at the interval having been given a first half roasting by the Cuban. If only he had more poise in the penalty area he'd be playing in the Premier League because he cannot be contained over the first five yards.

And then there was Juninho Bacuna, the mercurial 24-year-old who had been so poor against Hull that he didn’t start against