Liam Millar (2) and Demarai Gray were on target as Birmingham City defeated Queens Park Rangers on home turf

Birmingham City sent out a message that they are promotion contenders with another emphatic victory over Queens Park Rangers.

Four days after putting four past Preston, Chris Davies’ team put three past a QPR side that many fancy to be in the promotion shake-up come May.

A brace from Liam Millar and a stoppage time goal from Demarai Gray secured a 3-0 victory for Blues to maintain their unbeaten home record and end QPR’s unblemished record on the road.

QPR had a big chance to take the lead inside five minutes at St Andrew’s. A long throw-in from the left was flicked on and the ball skimmed wide off Boy Kemper. The QPR left-back clearly wasn’t expecting the ball to reach him and couldn't react quickly enough to guide it home from close range.

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Blues thought they should have been awarded a penalty when August Priske’s shot clearly struck the arm of QPR’s Ronnie Edwards. Admittedly, the ball didn’t travel far but Edwards’ arms were raised and in an unnatural position, but referee Thomas Kirk waved away appeals.

It was Blues who opened the scoring midway through the first half with a devastating counter-attack. A defensive clearance was gathered by QPR’s Rayan Kolli in the centre circle before being harried into a mistake by Jay Stansfield. Kolli’s loose touch was pounced upon by Tomoki Iwata and the Japanese midfielder sent Millar haring towards goal to score for the third successive home match.

While QPR were neat enough in possession and worked the ball between the boxes well, they offered little in the way of genuine scoring chances. Kolli smashed a shot straight at James Beadle from a tight angle in what proved to be their only effort on target in the first half.

Kolli had the first chance of the second half after being afforded too much time in Blues’ penalty box. Fortunately, Beadle was equal to his left-footed strike.

Blues soon got their act together and doubled their lead in the 49th minute. Iwata dispossessed Glen Kamara in midfield and the ball was returned to him by Roberts. Iwata shifted it to Millar and the Canadian found the corner with a first-time finish across Charles.

Confidence flowed through Blues after Millar’s second. Superb play between Iwata, Priske and Stansfield saw Blues find space down the right and Jhon Solis stretched every sinew of his 6ft 2in frame to get on the end of the cross but couldn’t quite reach it.

Edwards forced Beadle into his best save of the match when he was teed up by QPR substitute Richard Kone. Edwards’ low strike was heading for the bottom corner before Beadle tipped it around the post.

Millar had a good opportunity to complete his hat-trick when Jimmy Dunne headed Carlos Vicente’s cross straight to him. Millar’s volley was straight at Charles, either side and he would have netted Blues’ first treble since 2021.

The man who replaced Millar for the final 20 minutes, Gray, added Blues’ third in stoppage time. Stansfield slipped in substitute Luis Vazquez and his cut-back was perfect for Gray to find the roof of the net.

A fifth victory after 11 games has Blues in fourth position as one of four teams on 20 points or more. Everything suggests this Blues team can last the course this season.

James Beadle 7

The goalkeeper was far busier than he was against Preston with two good saves from Kolli and a better one from Edwards.

Bright Osayi-Samuel 8

Thou shalt not pass Blues’ right-back this season. Even when Anderson thought he had beaten Osayi-Samuel, he hadn’t. Osayi-Samuel rushed back in more than once to keep his man at bay in another fine showing.

Phil Neumann 8

Neumann was a tad scruffier than usual and used his pace to bail him out against Anderson in the first half. He improved after half-time to help his team to a third straight clean sheet.

Christoph Klarer 9

The skipper was an absolute colossus at the back. Not only did Klarer seem to win every duel, he stepped out of defence successfully more than once. Neumann grabbed all the accolades at the start of the season but Klarer is also at the top of his game.

Alex Cochrane 8

It’s enjoyable watching Cochrane at the moment. Poku was one of the wingers who gave Cochrane the most grief in League One but there were no such issues this time around. He was solid defensively and his distribution down the left was classy as usual.

Tomoki Iwata 9*

In the week Davies revealed that Iwata might not extend his Blues career beyond the end of this season, the man from Japan has produced two exceptional performances. He did everything you would want from a holding midfielder against QPR – and he even managed two assists. Iwata is undoubtedly playing the best football of his Blues career.

Jhon Solis 7

Solis had some joy carrying the ball down the left in the first half and combined neatly with Millar and Cochrane. Almost positioned himself to finish a flowing Blues move in his last involvement before being replaced.

Patrick Roberts 8

Roberts spent a large portion of the first half after being given some rough treatment by a QPR defence unwilling to let him weave his magic. But you can’t keep a good winger down and Roberts was still a creative force whenever he got the ball on his second start this week.

Jay Stansfield 8

A bundle of energy in and around Priske. Stansfield was involved in a lot of Blues’ best moves and you could see why Davies believes he is ‘the best pressing 10 in the league’ in the way that he hounded Kolli in the build-up to the opening goal.

Liam Millar 9

Millar is making his own case for the Championship’s Player of the Year prize with seven goal contributions in seven games. The winger produced two expert finishes against QPR to better his tally for the entire season with Hull City in 2025/26.

August Priske 7

There were some really nice touches from Priske in the build-up and his link play has improved massively on last season. This was another game where he worked tirelessly for the team and he got a deserved pat on the back from Davies when he was substituted late on.

SUBS

Max Bird (for Solis, 57) 6.5

Snapped into tackles and got forward in support of Blues' attack on occasions. Bird is looking very useful.

Carlos Vicente (for Roberts, 57) 6

Sent on to do a tactical job by Chris Davies. Tracked Kemper and pressed QPR's back-line with purpose.

Demarai Gray (for Millar, 71) 7

Gray carried the ball superbly and took his goal well. What options Davies has on the left wing.

Luis Vazquez (for Priske, 86) N/A

A first assist in Blues' colours will give Vazquez confidence. A willing runner late on.

Not used: Allsop, Fry, Laird, Gardner-Hickman, Ducksch