Blues collected a precious three points with this knockout Boxing Day victory over Middlesbrough at St. Andrew's this afternoon.

Stewart Downing's own goal set Alex McLeish's men on their way and Mikael Forssell scored his second goal in as many home games to double the lead just before the interval.

It was not really a scoreline that reflected a first half in which Boro looked menacing throughout.

But Blues created enough opportunities in the second half to thoroughly warrant the win and fully deserved the third goal which arrived in injury time courtesy of Gary McSheffrey's coolly converted penalty.

McLeish made three changes to the team that lost to Bolton at the weekend.

Liam Ridgewell returned to the heart of the defence in place of Rafael Schmitz, but Damien Johnson retained the captain's armband.

Former Boro favourite Franck Queudrue was given his first start by Blues new boss, with Mat Sadler making way,

The final swap saw Forssell return up front as McLeish reverted to 4-4-2, on-loan Johan Djourou dropping to the bench.

Fabio Rochemback replaced Adam Johnson in the only change to the Boro side that lost at home to West Ham United last Saturday.

Blues enjoyed plenty of possession during the opening stages but it was the visitors that were first to record shots on target, Jeremie Aliadiere twice seeing efforts easily saved by Maik Taylor.

Boro were making things difficult for Blues by not giving McLeish's side any time to settle on the ball and Johnson lost the ball to Downing whose long range shot never looked like troubling Taylor.

Blues finally got a foothold in the game midway through the half and Seb Larsson's free kick forced George Boateng into a panicky clearance over his own crossbar.

Gary McSheffrey's threaded through ball almost set Muamba in the clear but Schwarzer came rushing out to claim the ball, although the former Arsenal man showed great determination to try and get there, almost taking out the Australian in the process.

Blues' improvement continued as Cameron Jerome showed great trickery on the right wing to beat his man only to be taken out by Julio Arca, earning the Argentinean the first booking of the game.

The resultant free-kick led to the opening goal on 21 minutes.

Gary McSheffrey curled in a wicked shot that Downing swung his foot at to clear only to see the ball skim off his leg and past Schwarzer leaving the Boro keeper with no chance to save.

Muamba was playing like a man possessed in the opening period and he was clearly determined to open his goal-scoring account.

An early shot embarrassingly flew out for a throw-in but the England youth international went closer with a 34th minute shot that went just over.

Boro looked threatening throughout the first half and passed the ball around well but with little end product.

Aliadiere went closest with a run and shot that trickled five yards wide while Stephen Kelly was forced to hammer the ball away from just in front of the goal line after a failed punched clearance by Taylor.

Then, just before the break, Rochemback's free-kick was met by Tuncay Sanli's header but fortunately the ball dropped kindly into the arms of Taylor.

The visitors' pressure finally relented as Forssell went close to a second Blues goal at the other end.

The Finn showed fantastic quick feet to beat two Boro defenders before unleashing a shot that rippled the side-netting.

But the flame-haired striker was not to be denied his fourth goal of the season in first half injury time.

Forssell showed great predatory instinct to latch onto Jerome's flick from Larsson's corner to prod the ball past Arca on the Boro left hand post.

In truth, the scoreline did not tell the full story of the opening half but the Blues fans amongst a healthy festive crowd certainly weren't complaining.

Half-time: Blues 2 Boro 0

Gareth Southgate made two changes at half time with Robert Huth and Dong-Gook Lee replacing David Wheater and Jeremie Aliadiere.

The latter had looked particularly threatening for the visitors so assumedly an injury forced his early withdrawal.

Forssell had the ball in the net soon after the interval after he raced onto McSheffrey's flick but the striker was denied by the assistant's offside flag.

Radhi Jaidi did well to put in a last ditch tackle to divert Rochemback's shot wide of the past after a storming run by the Brazilian.

An entertaining half continued as Schwarzer was forced to tip McSheffrey's cross over his own crossbar then Ridgewell connected well with a volley that unfortunately struck a team mate on the way to goal.

The play swung from end to end and Boro went close with a Tuncay volley from an Arca cross flying just over the bar.

Larsson was inches away with a driving run and shot from 25 yards although the Swede may have been better to lay the ball into the path of McSheffrey, who was free to his right and screaming for the ball.

Taylor produced a stunning save midway through the bar to tip the ball over the bar from Tuncay's swerving shot as Boro threatened a comeback.

Southgate played his final card by bringing on Adam Johnson for Arca with 20 minutes remaining.

Woodgate was booked for a foul on Jerome, and from the resultant free kick McSheffrey saw his volley headed over by a flying Huth.

And moments later another Boro player, Rockenbach, was helping out his goalkeeper with a diving header to block Johnson's shot.

Blues' momentum continued as Jaidi rose highest to meet Larsson's corner but his header was straight at Schwarzer.

Kelly produced one of his trademark last ditch challenges to take the ball off the feet of Tuncay just as the Turkish international was about to pull the trigger inside the area.

Forssell was replaced by Garry O'Connor as McLeish made his first change on 77 minutes.

Taylor had to be alert again to turn over Huth's header and then Nafti came on for Larsson in Blues' second substitution of the game.

Jerome had a golden opportunity to seal victory when he raced clear on the left but he sliced his shot horribly wide.

Blues had a narrow escape when Jaidi fell on the ball inside the area and it appeared to strike his arm but the referee fortunately saw there was no intent and waved play on.

Blues never looked like giving away anything after that and deservedly added a third goal from a penalty in the final minute of added time.

McSheffrey was brought down by Huth after attempting to play a one-two with Jerome and the winger dusted himself down to take the spot kick himself and slotted the ball into the bottom left corner to seal a memorable Premier League victory.

The win moved Blues above their opponents into 14th place in the table ahead of another 'six-pointer' against struggling Fulham, who were thrashed 5-1 by Tottenham today.

Full time: Blues 3 Boro 0

Blues: Maik Taylor, Stephen Kelly, Liam Ridgewell, Radhi Jaidi, Franck Queudrue, Seb Larsson (Mehdi Nafti 82), Damien Johnson, Fabrice Muamba, Gary McSheffrey, Cameron Jerome, Mikael Forssell (Garry O'Connor 77)
Subs (not used): Colin Doyle, Johan Djourou, Daniel de Ridder.
Goals: Downing og (21), Forssell (45), McSheffrey (90)
Bookings: McSheffrey (53)

Boro: Mark Schwarzer, Luke Young, Julio Arca (Adam Johnson 70), Emanuel Pogatetz, George Boateng, Jonathan Woodgate, Fabio Rochemback, Jeremie Aliadiere (Dong-Gook Lee 46), Tuncay Sanli, Stewart Downing, David Wheater (Robert Huth 46).
Subs (not used): Ross Turnbull, Mohamed Shawky.
Bookings: Arca (21), Woodgate (71)

Referee: M Halsey (Lancs)