Result: Wes Thomas gives Birmingham City slender victory

Birmingham City edge out Brighton & Hove Albion in the Championship, with Wes Thomas scoring the winner for the Blues in the early stages of the second half.

An early second-half goal from Wes Thomas saw Birmingham City to a 1-0 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion.

His winner came four minutes into the second half as he met David Cotterill's cross to beat David Stockdale with a well-placed header and condemn the Seagulls to a second straight Championship defeat.

Clayton Donaldson of Birmingham City tangles with Aaron Hughes of Brighton & Hove Albion during the Sky Bet Championship match between Birmingham City and Brighton & Hove Albion at St Andrews (stadium) on August 16, 2014© Getty Images

Earlier, Albion had looked like scoring as both Kazenga LuaLua and Craig Mackail-Smith went close for the visitors, while Bruno also wasted a chance from a set-piece situation.

Birmingham themselves had threatened the Seagulls goal as Paul Caddis and Jonathan Spector were frustrated by Stockdale.

Mackail-Smith missed a golden opportunity to bring the Sussex club back on level terms after Gordon Greer headed the ball into his path, but from six yards out, the forward skied his shot.

Sami Hyypia then introduced Liverpool loanee Joao Teixeira for his Brighton debut and the Portuguese playmaker almost had an impact when he set up Rohan Ince, who saw his effort blocked.

In the end, the Seagulls, who kept 20 clean sheets in the Championship last term, fell to a second consecutive loss to give their hopes of building on last season's top-six finish an early setback.

Sami Hyypia, manager of Brighton & Hove Albion, looks on prior to the friendly match against Partick Thistle at Arena Football Center on July 12, 2014
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Tables
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Burnley402114563333077
2Middlesbrough39237954252976
3Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton402015556381875
4Hull City392091054272769
5Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds401814859372268
6Derby CountyDerby401813956371967
7Cardiff CityCardiff40161595142963
8Ipswich TownIpswich401612124644260
9Birmingham CityBirmingham391511134339456
10Preston North EndPreston401414123938156
11Queens Park RangersQPR401216125047352
12Wolverhampton WanderersWolves401313144852-452
13Reading391312144544151
14Brentford39147185460-649
15Leeds UnitedLeeds391115133948-948
16Blackburn RoversBlackburn401113163940-146
17Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest401113163541-646
18Huddersfield TownHuddersfield40129195257-545
19Fulham401014166166-544
20Bristol City401111184163-2244
21Rotherham UnitedRotherham40127214764-1743
22MK Dons40910213455-2137
23Charlton AthleticCharlton40812203670-3436
24Bolton WanderersBolton40414223772-3526