Southampton 4 Birmingham 1

Birmingham were put to the sword for the second time this week as Southampton went to the top of the Championship with a resounding win.

A burst of three goals in 34 first-half minutes saw Saints maintain their 100 per cent record at St Mary's this season with strikes from Rickie Lambert, Guly Do Prado and Adam Lallana.

A second-half reply from on-loan striker Chris Wood was too little, too late for Blues, who went further behind to Richard Chaplow's goal.

And Chris Hughton's men - beaten by Portuguese club Braga at St Andrew's in the Europa League on Thursday night - started their own downward spiral after just 11 minutes.

Steven Caldwell conceded a penalty with a foul on Lambert inside the area, who dusted himself down to convert the spot kick.

All of 10 minutes later it was 2-0, Do Prado finishing a loose ball in the box after Frazer Richardson played the ball in for Southampton.

With just 34 minutes on the clock, Blues went 3-0 behind, Lallana with the third, Richardson again the provider for the midfielder to slot home.

Wood gave Blues a glimmer of hope with a free-kick four minutes after the break, that flew past goalkeeper Kelvin Davis and into the net.

But Chaplow ensured Southampton won by three clear goals - on boss Nigel Adkins' one-year anniversary in charge - rifling in Lallana's pass on 78 minutes to cap a fine day for the home side.