How Birmingham City owner Tom Wagner has reacted in just two words to Preston North End victory | OneFootball

The American was once again among the travelling army of Bluenoses at Deepdale on Tuesday night

Birmingham City owner Tom Wagner has been among those reacting to his club's first Championship success in four games, which came through a hotly-contested 1-0 victory over Preston North End on Tuesday night.

It has been a rather mixed return to the Championship for the West Midlands side, having been tipped by many outsiders to make an immediate challenge for back-to-back promotions when taking the millions of pounds which the American and his investment group - Knighthead Capital Management - have continuously ploughed into developments at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park since taking over back in the summer of 2023.

This had, rather controversially, increased the weight of pressure on Chris Davies' shoulders to turn a mixed run of recent form around, having struggled for consistency in the past two months' worth of outings across all competitions.

The 40-year-old has continued to receive the backing of the aforementioned Wagner when it comes to turning the tide around and embarking on a much stronger run of form as the season continues to edge nearer to the pivotal winter period, during which promotion, play-off and relegation candidates are firmly asserted.

Coming into the midweek encounter at Deepdale, a largely rejuvenated North End were defending an unbeaten home league record, which had seen the likes of Leicester City and Ipswich Town already put to the sword, whilst Blues were hoping to replicate their previous away success, which, ironically, also came in Lancashire having beaten Blackburn Rovers in dramatic fashion back on August 16th.

It was a landmark day for Birmingham and Wagner as a whole, too, when taking off-pitch developments into account.

The hedge fund investor was able to celebrate in style among a strong contingent of travelling supporters, as well as reacting to the victory on social media post match.

Looking to respond from an encouraging performance, yet disappointing 3-2 defeat against Hull City - a result which also ended Davies' 29-game unbeaten league home record in B9 over the weekend - Blues were able to weather the storm and take the three points back down the M6 after an intriguing 90 minutes in the North West.

Phil Neumann was handed his first start in seven games in place of the suspended Jack Robinson - who endured a torrid afternoon on Saturday with a red card and own-goal - and the German fully repaid Davies' faith by turning home an Alex Cochrane free-kick on 33 minutes, albeit some Preston supporters have questioned referee Josh Smith for not awarding a free-kick in their favour for handball.

The centre-back and Christoph Klarer were also extremely impressive when it came to their defensive duties alongside James Beadle between the sticks, with the hosts dominating the shot count and possession percentages.

Just hours after confirming who the architects for Birmingham's future 62,000-seater stadium were, in the form of Heatherwick Studio and MANICA at a Regional Investment Summit at Edgbaston Stadium, Wagner made the trip to Deepdale for the second time in three seasons, having previously seen a 2-1 defeat in September 2023 in the away section under the management of John Eustace.

The extremely vocal Boston native then took to his Instagram story after the full-time whistle to issue a simple two-word reaction to his side's fourth win of the season, stating: "Incredible victory!"

Birmingham City will hope Preston North End success provides springboard for consistency

As previously mentioned, Blues had struggled for consistency in both team selection and results in recent weeks, which had led to a 17th-place standing prior to Tuesday's victory.

In fairness, plenty of other Championship sides have been in the same boat across the opening 11 fixtures, which has only added to the drama that ensues throughout a 46-game season.

After recording a first success in just under a month, Davies will hope it provides a springboard for consistency in the lead-up to the final international break of the calendar year.