Birmingham City’s stay in the EPL’s bottom three was surprisingly cut short when they beat league leaders and title favourites Chelsea with a performance as dogged as they come.

The victory came courtesy of a 17^th-minute Lee Bowyer goal and some terrific shot-stopping by goalkeeper Ben Foster. Manager Alex McLeish said the goal came from a “trademark Bowyer run” and described midfielder Barry Ferguson as “imperious.”

But he admitted: “We got a wee bit of luck. We had to defend stoutly as they had all the ball and some good chances.” But the Scot was also quick point out that “We’ve had games this season that we deserved to win but didn’t.”

There was further good news for the Blues as midfielder Craig Gardner is set to make an earlier than expected return to training after a recent ankle injury.

Gardner limped out of Blues 0-0 draw at Manchester City seven days before the Chelsea game.

At the time, McLeish said the 24-year-old Scot would be “as big a loss to us as Chelsea losing Frank Lampard,” who has also been a long-term injury worry.

But McLeish said this week: “The good news is it was an old injury, which has changed the medical people’s minds about the extent of it.

“At first, we thought it could have been three months. But it is not as bad and in the not-too-distant future we expect him to be back training with us.”

Birmingham visit Fulham in the EPL this coming Saturday.