Waddo kept the same starting XI that had battled its way to a point against Plymouth on Saturday. Jones was in goal behind Rose, Stewart, Rehman and Milanese. Oliseh, Bircham, Ward and Cook were in midfield with Blackstock and Nygaard up front. Gallen and Lomas lost their spots on the bench to Baidoo and Bailey.

It was clear from the moment the teams were read out that this would be a tough game. Any side that can afford to leave two strikers of the calibre of Forssell and Jerome on the bench will certainly provide a stiff test.

Blues were having the better of the early possession but neither side was peppering the opposition goal. Cook should have done better but took far too long on the ball, something he was guilty of all evening as he turned in a frustrating display.

The real issues for Rangers though seemed to be their ability to defend set pieces. Birmingham looked to have been well drilled by Bruce, a master at scoring from set pieces in his playing days, and every single ball that was coming in was at good pace and in a dangerous area.

Radhi Jaidi headed wide from a corner when he should have done far better given the slackness of our zonal system. His centre back partner Bruno N’Gotty made no mistake when he was presented with a sitter moments later.

McSheffrey whipped in a devilish freekick that caught the R’s defence on the hop. It looked to be within range of Jones but he remained rooted to his line as the big French centre back came charging in with Damion Stewart trailing in his wake. He met the ball with a bullet header that flew past Jones and gave the away side a deserved lead.

It was yet another in the every growing catalogue of terrible goals surrendered by Rangers this season. Cook sent a rare effort at the Birmingham goal as Rangers tried to respond. The visitors thought they had doubled their lead just after the half hour but the ref spotted a handball from DJ Campbell shortly before he slotted the ball home in front of The Loft.

Damien Johnson found himself booked for clattering Blackstock and this should have been an invitation for Cook to start getting at the out of position midfielder. He can’t tackle at the best of times and some jinking runs would almost certainly have had him lunging in again.

Egutu Oliseh had been impressive thus far on the right of midfield with some quick footedness that was leaving Arsenal loanee Larsson hacking at thin air. He almost made a chance for Nygaard after beating the young Swede all ends up but the Dane didn’t show the necessary anticipation. His young countryman Bendtner on the other hand was running Rehman and Stewart all over the place and making plenty of space for the midfield to use. Both Danns and Dunn fired in late shots as Birmingham tried to hammer home their advantage.

Bircham and Ward had run their socks off in the first half but more to cover the gaps than to create a chance. Ward had tried to kick things off with Cook a couple of times but he just kept getting the ball stuck under his feet. Birch was snapping into his tackles and using the ball sensibly, just as he had at Plymouth.

Waddock took off Blackstock at half time and replaced him with Ray Jones. Blackstock had been totally anonymous in the first half; he and Nygaard didn’t seem to have any sort of understanding. It was the away side that started better again though as Dunn forced Jones into a great flying save with a blistering volley from fully thirty yards.

Rangers were starting to get a foothold in the game now and were beginning to cause a few problems for the previously under worked Birmingham back four. Oliseh almost opened his R’s account with a shot that took a wicked deflection off of an outstretched leg and looping over the angle of post and bar before Nygaard headed well wide from an Oliseh cross.

Then it was lifeline time as the hitherto impressive Bendtner had a moment of total madness. Having been booked for moaning about the lack of a penalty decision from referee Melin he then decided to clump Bircham round the back of the head as they jostled before a throw in. Bircham crumpled and the ref had little option but to give the young Dane first use of the bath water.

With Birmingham down to ten men Bruce took off Campbell and replaced him the much bigger physical presence of Cameron Jerome. Waddo rolled his dice also and replaced Rehman with Baidoo to go to an ultra attacking 3-4-3 formation.

Shabba flew out of the blocks and was happily turning Larsson inside out but nobody seemed able to fashion a decent chance. Stewart was galloping up behind the youngster and offering game support, he whipped in one tremendous cross that was nodded over the top by Jones.

The best chance for Rangers though came in the final minute when Baidoo blasted past Larsson and lashed in a low cross that managed to evade Nygaard, Jones and Cook before going out for a throw on. It was a cavalry charge now for Rangers and Birmingham hit them with a classic sucker punch. In this case the sucker was Matthew Rose.

A long ball into Jerome was allowed to bounce and Rose then got close enough to Jerome to be able to feel the cut of his pants! The England U21 man held Rose off before turning away from him and sending a sumptuous lob over Jones. It was a great finish but it was awful defending from the stand in skipper who had been garbage all night. If there is a less inspirational leader in the league I would love to see him, I could do with a laugh!

Rangers weren’t able to find a way back and the third defeat of the season was confirmed by Mr Melin. Unless the defensive frailties are fixed we will be in bother. Rehman and Stewart cannot head the ball; I think Kanyuka needs to come in. I would be tempted to move Stewart to right back as he is athletic enough to do a job there and it would mean he wouldn’t be as exposed in the air.

Bright spots from the game though were the displays of Oliseh, Ward, Bircham and Baidoo. All four of them did very well, Oliseh showed he had some serious talent; he just needs to be played inside rather than wide. Ward and Bircham linked well and Shabba was sensational when he came on and is certainly worth a start out wide at Colchester.

Man of the Match – Marc Bircham. For the second game in a row Bircham takes the honour. He seems to be knuckling down and fighting to get off of that transfer list. If he plays like this consistently then it won’t be too long coming.

simon@qprnet.com