A HUGE win for Wigan that will do much to guarantee their Premier League safety but, for manager Steve Bruce, there wasn’t likely to be a celebratory drink in the boardroom afterwards. His acrimonious departure from Birmingham in November still rankles and he had no desire to exchange pleasantries with his former employers.

The feeling may well have been mutual after Birmingham’s co-owner David Sullivan dismissed Bruce’s version of the events that followed the end of his six-year reign. Bruce maintained this was no grudge match, but quiet satisfaction will have been the least of his emotions as he pushed Wigan eight points away from the relegation zone and, at the same time, left Birmingham just one place above it.

“I wanted it for the club which employs me now,” he said. “Five months ago when we came through the door, we were nearly adrift with Derby. I want enough points to repay the faith Mr Whelan showed in me by outlaying such a vast amount of money.”

Bruce insisted that is not yet certain, although under his guidance Wigan remain rock solid at home, where they have lost just twice under his stewardship and not conceded a goal in five successive games. Birmingham never threatened that record and could easily have lost more heavily than by the two goals scored either side of half-time by Ryan Taylor.

It is clear that Bruce’s successor at St Andrews, Alex McLeish, has the more immediate problems and it might be the form of those teams further down that is responsible for keeping Birmingham up, with City enjoying just four wins since Bruce left in return for £3m in compensation. That now looks to be sound business by chairman Dave Whelan, with Birmingham the club that may yet suffer, even if their form had started to slip before Bruce departed following the uncertainty over his future brought about by the doomed takeover deal pursued by Carson Yeung.

Birmingham are also totting up the potential cost of red cards, with captain Damien Johnson now set to miss their next three games after he was sent off for jumping into a challenge on Kevin Kilbane when City trailed 1-0 late in the first half. Referee Mike Dean had no hesitation in reducing City to 10 men, as he had done at the Emirates in February when dismissing Martin Taylor for the challenge on Eduardo that left the Arsenal player with a broken leg. Taylor had not played since but made his return yesterday, and while the result will not have pleased him, he could be forgiven for being relieved it was a namesake, albeit in the opposition, who, along with Bruce, hogged the limelight.

Inadvertently, Birmingham’s Taylor gave the match winner a helping hand when his misplaced pass after a quarter of an hour allowed Antonio Valencia to start terrorising the City defence. Sprinting past the Blues’ centre-back, Valencia crossed for Ryan Taylor to shoot low into the bottom corner and trigger a first-half performance that Bruce described as arguably the best since he took office.

Birmingham could not live with Valencia or Ryan Taylor and after the former had forced Maik Taylor into a decent save, the visitors’ uphill task was pushed beyond them when Johnson was dismissed.

“When you lunge, you show your studs and it can be difficult for the referee not to give a red card,” said McLeish. “The lunge is being outlawed and more and more referees show a red card regardless of whether there is contact or not – as long as referees do it every time that kind of challenge goes in.”

Kilbane nearly handed out retribution of his own with a shot that hit the post and after an almost constant bombardment, Birmingham must have been glad to reach the sanctuary of the dressing room without sustaining further damage.

However, their respite proved short-lived and Wigan finally doubled their lead 10 minutes after the break. Again the outstanding Valencia was involved with another run and cross from the right flank that created a chance for Marcus Bent. He could not find the target but Kilbane kept the ball in and, after a scramble inside the six-yard box, Taylor forced the ball home and edged Wigan nearer the finishing line, which, this season, should not extend to the final day.

Star man: Antonio Valencia (Wigan)

Player ratings: Wigan:Kirkland 6, Melchiot 7, Boyce 7, Scharner 7, Kilbane 7, Valencia 8, Skoko 7 (Figueroa 90min), Palacios 7, R Taylor 8 (Sibierski 85min), Bent 6, Heskey 7 (King 88min)

Birmingham: Maik Taylor 6, Kelly 6, Jaidi 6, Martin Taylor 5 (Parnaby 72min), Murphy 3, Larsson 5, Muamba 5, Johnson 3, McSheffrey 5 (Nafti 63min), Forssell 6 (Jerome 67min), Zarate 6

Scorer: Wigan: R Taylor 15, 55

Yellow cards: Birmingham: Murphy, Jaidi Red card: Birmingham: Johnson
Referee: M Dean Attendance:17,926